Squid Ink Pasta with Mussels Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What sauce goes best with squid ink pasta? ›

A light, simple white wine sauce allows the sweetness of the seafood and the subtle, briny flavor of the squid ink pasta to shine. Dressing the black pasta and bright seafood with a relatively clear sauce preserves their stark contrast in colors.

Homemade squid ink pasta has a mildly briny flavor and dramatic black color, making it perfect for seafood pasta recipes. This dough can be rolled and cut with a pasta cutter into thin spaghetti or fettuccine, or cut by hand into wide pappardelle noodles, or even shaped into ravioli.

Squid ink pasta is popular throughout Italy and one of our favourite dishes of this variety involves spaghetti in a squid ink sauce. Known in Italian as Spaghetti al Nero di Seppia, this delicacy is often enjoyed in coastal towns stretching all the way from Sicilia, in the far south, to Veneto in the north east.

The bottom line

Test-tube and animal studies link the ink to health benefits, but human research is lacking. Plus, the small amounts typically used are unlikely to benefit your health. Nonetheless, squid ink can add flavor and variety to your dishes, so you may want to give it a try for its unique culinary properties.

Squid ink is versatile and can be used to color and flavor sauces, fresh pasta, and, interestingly enough, breads and crackers. In the Spanish dish chipirones en su tinta (squid in its ink), baby squid are fried and served in an inky broth.

Because it's typically consumed in small amounts, its health benefits aren't significant — but it may have antioxidant, antimicrobial, and anti-cancer properties. Today, owing to its striking appearance and flavor, squid ink is used primarily in cooking — and in particular, in Mediterranean and Japanese cooking.

Spaghetti al nero di seppia (Spaghetti with Squid Ink)

What does it taste and smell like? Gourmets will say that squid ink tastes and smells with the sea. To be more precise, the flavor of squid ink is close to the flavor of fresh sea fish with some umami hints. To remember umami flavor, think of soy sauce or blue cheese.

In this dramatic Italian dish called spaghetti al nero di seppia, tender fresh squid is cooked in a sauce containing its own ink. This adds both a tangy sea flavor and a deep black sheen to the sauce. You will most likely have to go to a fishmonger who has very fresh fish to obtain the squid, but it's worth the trip.

The squid ink, which actually comes from the cuttlefish, a close squid cousin, is the same type used in cooking — to make squid ink pasta, for example — so it is safe for consumption. And it does not stain teeth and comes off easily with brushing, Jokerst said.

What can I use instead of squid ink pasta? ›

As it turns out, dried black beans can be turned into noodles that pretty closely resemble squid ink pasta. The process is a lot like making chickpea pasta dough, which comes together with chickpea flour or finely ground dried chickpeas.

Once opened, store the jar in the fridge, and use a little of the cuttlefish ink at a time to colour fresh pasta, risottos and paellas. Use sparingly - a little goes a long way. Use approximately 1g of squid ink with 100g of other ingredients. Once opened, keep refrigerated, and use within 20 days.

Squid is relatively high in Omega-3 fatty acids, which may be good for blood flow and supports healthy cholesterol levels. Squid contains lutein, an antioxidant pigment known to support eye health. Squid contains taurine, which can reduce the risk of heart disease and high blood pressure.

Recipe Notes for Squid Ink Pasta

I have a few tips that you may find helpful listed below. No salt needed. The squid ink pasta is naturally salty on its own.

The ink harbours delicate, briny flavours and umami depth, which makes it a fantastic ingredient to cook with. Squid ink has been used for centuries and is the essential ingredient in regional dishes such as Spain's famous rice dish, arròs negre, and Italian spaghetti al nero di seppia.

These delicate strands are best paired with light sauces, like tomato or garlic and olive oil, that will coat the strands evenly and won't get weighed down when wound up with a fork.

Squid Sauce

Squid Brand fish sauce is an authentic and delicious sauce, made from fresh anchovies and salt. It then undergoes a natural fermentation process for about 18 months. After that it achieves a high quality fish sauce, rich with natural protein, giving it a fragrant aroma and a clear, reddish brown color.