This Squid Ink Pasta with Prawns and Chilli is one of those pasta dishes with a WOW factor. Looks impressive, tastes divine and it’s a breeze to make! With only 15 minutes of cooking time you will want to make this every week!
Ingredients for this Squid Ink Pasta with Prawns and Chilli
Squid Ink Spaghetti – Spaghetti con nero di seppia
Does Squid Ink Pasta taste different than normal pasta?
I love using Squid Ink Pasta, and I often buy Spaghetti. The colour is striking and they pair beautifully with a simple seafood sauce! The taste is slightly more saltier than traditional pasta. The pasta is made by adding squid or cuttlefish ink to the durum wheat.
Where is Squid Ink Pasta from?
The origins of this type of pasta are set to be from Sicily, in the area near Catania. Fishermen did not want to waste anything from the squids and/or cuttlefish they caught so they would use the ink for a simple sauce for pasta added to garlic and tomatoes. Resourceful, and delicious right??
Where can you buy Squid Ink Pasta from?
You can find Squid Ink Pasta in Italian Specialty stores, delicatessen or online too!
Substitutes Squid Ink Spaghetti
If you can’t get a hold of Squid Ink Spaghetti or wider Squid Ink Tagliatelle, you can most certainly substitute them with normal Spaghetti, Tagliatelle, or Fettuccine. For seafood pastas like this Squid Ink Pasta with Prawns and Chilli, I like to use slightly bigger versions of Spaghetti like a Spaghettoni or a Spaghetto Quadrato. I find it holds the sauce better.
Prawns
Prawns come in different shapes and sizes and you can go for what you can find and prefer but they need to be raw. Cooked prawns in the sauce will just get chewy and tough to eat! I used medium-sized raw prawns, that were already peeled and deveined.
Chilli
I used dried chilli flakes like the ones pictured below for this recipe. I love adding this as it adds some heat and punch to the dish! You can substitute using chilli powder in equal amounts or omit the chilli completely if you prefer without and just add a little cracked pepper instead.
Cherry Tomatoes
I used fresh cherry tomatoes for this recipe as they are sweet and you can get maximum flavour from them in a short amount of time! Cooking them for as little as 15 minutes gives you a sweet and delicate sauce which is perfect for this Squid Ink Pasta.
Substituting for a can of diced tomatoes is possible but you would generally need to add a little more salt and some tomato paste for sweetness. Tinned tomatoes or Passata can also be used but the sauce will need to cook for longer (at least 20-30 minutes) to cook out the raw flavour of the tomatoes.
Other ingredients
Garlic (lots!), Fresh Parsley, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Salt and Pepper
How to make this Squid Ink Spaghetti with Prawns and Chilli
Have a large pot and alongside set up a large fry-pan, which will be used to make the sauce and cook the prawns.
Make the Squid Ink Pasta Sauce
In the fry pan with some olive oil over medium heat, gently fry the chopped garlic for 1 minute.
Add the cherry tomatoes, half a teaspoon of salt, some cracked pepper and the chilli flakes and cook for 8-10 minutes till the tomatoes have cooked down and the sauce thickened.
In the meantime, bring a large pot of salted water to the boil, and start cooking the Squid Ink spaghetti.
Add the prawns to the tomatoes in the pan and keep cooking till they change colour and are cooked through (3-4 minutes depending on the size).
Combine
Once the pasta is cooked, reserve some pasta water. Strain the spaghetti and combine them in the fry pan with the prawns. Add a few spoonful’s of the reserved pasta water and the chopped parsley to the pan and stir to combine with the pasta and sauce. Turn off the heat.
Add a few tablespoons of olive oil and cracked pepper. Serve immediately. Enjoy!
Want more?
Love spaghetti? Check out my other pasta recipes like Spaghettoni All’Amatriciana and Spaghetti Alla Carbonara.
Squid Ink Spaghetti with Prawns and Chilli
Ingredients
- 250 gr Squid Ink Pasta (like Spaghetti, Linguine or Fettuccine)
- 4 cloves Garlic (finely chopped)
- 250 gr Cherry Tomatoes (cut into quarters)
- 1 tsp Chilli flakes (or chilli powder)
- 250 gr Raw Prawns (deveined, peeled tail on or off)
- half tsp Salt (for the sauce and more to taste if needed)
- 1 Bunch Parsley (finely chopped)
- 5 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Cracked Pepper (to taste)
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil
- In a large fry-pan with a few tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat, gently fry the chopped garlic for 1 minute.
- Add the cherry tomatoes, half a teaspoon of salt, some cracked pepper and the chilli flakes and cook for 8-10 minutes till the tomatoes have cooked down and the sauce thickened.
- In the meantime, start cooking the Squid Ink Pasta in the boiling water till al dente as per packet directions
- Add the prawns to the tomatoes in the pan and keep cooking till they change colour and are cooked through (3-4 minutes depending on the size).
- Once the pasta is cooked, reserve some pasta water. Strain the squid ink pasta and combine it in the fry-pan with the tomatoes and prawns. Add a few large spoonful's of the reserved pasta water and the chopped parsley to the pan and stir it to combine with the pasta and sauce. Turn off the heat.
- Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil, cracked pepper and serve immediately.
