Squid ink linguine pasta with squids and goat milk ricotta cheese

• 15 minutes to prepare • 10 minutes to cook • Serves 4

10 MINUTES 

 

I have been on a squid kick lately. I love them!
They need no time to cook, are a great source of protein, and are low calorie! I like them a lot in creamy pasta dishes like this Squid ink linguine pasta with squids and goat milk ricotta cheese. It’s a simple dish with big bites of squid rings and tentacles, and the creaminess of ricotta.

This recipe fits the bill for a light, filling dinner. I really loved this dish right after it was made.
Blending ricotta into the pasta transformed the squid innards into a creamy sauce and really helped it make a flavory, light sauce while mitigating the strong taste of squids. Freshly ground pepper on top adds that burst of piquancy to bring it all together.

Here are ingredients for a 4-serving recipe:

 

320 g squid ink linguine pasta
600 g squids
100 g goat milk ricotta cheese
1 clove garlic
EVO oil
salt and pepper

1. Be calm and clean squids, wearing gloves: grasp the squid tail in one hand and the head in the other. Firmly pull apart with a slight twisting motion until the head and innards slip out of the body
2. Place your knife just above the eyes of the squid and cut straight down to remove the innards. Keep the innards aside. Then, place the knife just below the eyes and cut to remove the tentacles. Remove the peak from tentacles
3. Remove the thin, clear sliver of cartilage from the tail tube portion by simply grasping the cartilage with your fingers and pulling it from the squid body tube
4. Remove the skin and thoroughly wash the inside of the squid body tube, using your finger to pull out any residual innards. Finally, cut the cleaned squid body into rings
5. Pour two tablespoons of EVO oil in a pan and, when it is hot, add the garlic clove
6. When the garlic is golden, remove it and add the innards. Press them with a wooden spoon until you get a creamy sauce, then switch off the heat
7. Boil water in a pot, add salt. Once started to bubble, pour the squid ink linguine pasta
8. Prepare the goat milk ricotta sauce: add the ricotta cheese to the pan with squids innards and stir to mix
9. Take away one ladle of pasta cooking water and keep it aside. Then drain linguine pasta 2 minutes before the cooking time indicated on the package and transfer them into the pan with the sauce of goat milk ricotta. Add the squid tentacles and rings and cook for 2 more minutes, stirring carefully and adding cooking water as needed
10. Add freshly ground pepper on top and serve immediately!

Nutrition Facts are detailed in the table below. Data is provided per serving.

"It was a squid of colossal dimensions, eight metres in length. It was moving back- wards at extreme velocity as it headed towards the Nautilus. It was staring with its enormous fixed eyes of sea-green hue. Its eight arms, or rather legs, were not only implanted on its head, thus giving these animals the name of cephalopods, but were twice as big as its body and waving around like the Furies’ hair."
(Jules Verne, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea)