Squid & Sauceless Pastas

Courtesy of my brother's iPhone (camera ran out of battery)

Fried Calamari - I had it at countless restaraunts as an appetizer, especially because my whole family are fans of this fried squid. The first step to make it was to prepare the squid. The squid I bought from the supermarket had two parts to it; the main body (which had to be cut into rings; this is pretty much what it looked like) and the separated tentacles. Next, the squid was coated in in flour mixed with dried parsley, salt, and pepper. The last step was to fry the squid for about 3 minutes in small batches. Boy, was this simple and yummy! The crispy Calamari was served with warm marinara sauce, a perfect accessory. It's one of those recipes that makes me wish I had some while writing this. This is definitely one of my favorites out of Everyday Italian! Sadly, the pictures I took of my calamari were accidentally deleted :/ But I'm hoping to make this recipe again and get some photo-graphical evidence! I also made Orecchiette with Spicy Sausage and Broccoli Rabe. This was also delicious! The last time I made broccoli rabe it was very bitter, but in this recipe the strong bitterness was canceled out by the spicy sausage and pasta. First I quickly blanched the broccoli rabe in boiling water, set it aside, and then boiled the small shelled pasta (orecchiette) in that same water. While the pasta was boiling I sauteed the spicy sausages, breaking them up into little pieces. Once the sausage was cooked, I added in the blanched broccoli rabe with minced garlic cloves and red pepper flakes. I drained the pasta, reserving a cup of cooking liquid, and tossed the pasta into the sausage/broccoli rabe mixture. After the whole thing was combined, I added in small amounts of cooking liquid at a time, making sure the pasta wasn't too dry. The finishing touch was a palmful of parmesan cheese. I loved this dish! It was so easy to make, tasted good, and was something I could see myself throwing together when I don't have much time. It reminded me of the "Farfalle with Turkey Sausage, Mushrooms, and Peas" recipe I made in the summer, before I started my blog. These recipes were very good, and were located in a section of Everyday Italian named "Sauce-less Pastas."


Both the calamari and orecchiette dishes were super successful!


Time Spent: 3 hours and 40 min