Cuttlefish is just as tasty as squid but not as popular. It has a thicker tougher texture than Squid but if you cook it longer it becomes sweet and incredibly tender. I love artichokes and I am a big fan of combining them with fish and pasta because they have so much flavour, you do not need that many of them, they also have a wonderful texture.
Casarecce is not the easiest pasta shape to find so you can always substitute it for Fusilli.
When you buy your pasta have a look on the packet to see if it says bronze die. Usually it will be more expensive and have beautiful packaging but the bronze die pasta is the best because the bronze they use to make the dies to extrude the pasta through gives the pasta a rougher porous texture that absorbers the sauce much better than regular pasta. Its not that you should just use the regular pasta but if you see a packet that says ' Bronze Die' its definitely worth trying. Have a great week!
Casarecce pasta with Cuttlefish and artichokes
Ingredients
Serves four starter portions
300g Casarecce pasta
1x 300g Cuttlefish cleaned and sliced into 1/2 cm pieces
2 x violet or small artichokes trimmed and chokes removed
1 clove of garlic
1 tbsp of chopped Parsley
75 ml of white wine
2 tbsp of olive oil
1 sprig of thyme
100ml of water
Method
Heat a sauté pan then add 1 tbsp of olive oil and the sliced Cuttlefish which should be seasoned with salt and pepper. Fry gently for a couple of minutes then add a sprig of fresh thyme and the white wine. Place the lid of the pan on top and cook for five to eight minutes or until the cuttlefish feels tender. Trim the artichokes and peel of any dark green bits and scoop out the choke. Cut in half laying the cut side on a board and with a sharp knife slice into thin pieces. Add to the pan with the cuttlefish fish and 100ml of water. Cook with the lid on for five minutes until the artichokes are tender or you can put a knife through them. Take off the lid and reduce the juice until it becomes syrupy. Add the chopped parsley.
In a pot of boiling salted water cook the pasta three minutes less than the packet suggests then using a slotted spoon remove the pasta and add it directly to the sauce. Take a ladle or two of the pasta water and add it to the sauté pan with the sauce. Toss together and cook gently until the pasta has a lovely chewy texture and the sauce is really well coated the pasta. Check the seasoning and add a dash of good oil and toss the pasta one last time so the starch from the pasta thickens the sauce.
Matching a wine that goes well with artichokes can be difficult because they can over power the wine, so I would go for something like a Sauvignon Blanc or better still try a Falanghina from Campania.