Calamari Pasta Recipe

Today I’d like to share a recipe I made last night with nothing but leftovers from my fridge. Sounds kind of boring doesn’t it? Well, the main ingredient was somewhat unique, if that makes you feel any better. In my opinion this ingredient is perfect to throw over pasta, which is exactly what I did. What was it? Was it chicken? Nope. Think smaller. Think… more legs.

That’s right, calamari! I have had an irrational love of calamari (Italian for squid) since I was a kid. My grandmother used to fry it up for the family on News Year Day. It’s great stuff and it’s remarkably cheap and easy to prepare.

The night before last I had made seafood stew with shrimp, scallops, and calamari. I had over shot the amount of calamari that I needed, and thus was left with about a ½ a pound of tentacles left over. The tentacles happen to be my favorite part. This is lucky for me, because at the fish market most people request the rings.

At any rate, here’s my recipe for calamari in a white wine sauce and angel hair pasta. Please forgive the crudeness of this recipe, but I basically just throw things in the pan as I see fit. I don’t really care for exact measurements.

Here’s what you’ll need:

- Roughly ½ lb of squid (tentacles, rings, or both)
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons of butter
- 3 tablespoons minced garlic
- 3 green onions (chopped)
- A handful of left over kidney beans (red and white)
- A generous splash of white cooking wine
- A generous amount of angel hair pasta
- A frying pan to cook it all in

Boil two pots of water, one for the pasta and one for the squid. Throw the squid into the boiling water only for a few moments (until it curls up and turns purple). Then strain it and set it aside. If you add the uncooked squid to the wine sauce raw, it turns it a weird shade of purple. Cook the angel hair pasta in the other pot, drain, and set aside.

In a separate frying pan add the rest of the ingredients and simmer on low until hot. Next turn up the heat a little and add the cooked squid and stir for a few minutes.

Pour the squid and wine sauce over the pasta and you’re done! Not only is it easy and delicious, but it also freaks out your roommates when they see you eating it. No one in my house was willing to try it except for the dog and he seemed to enjoy it.