Black spaghetti with baby actopus and squid
( Spaghetti neri con polipetti e calamaretti )

Follow our tip. If you want to serve this pasta dish as you can see in the photo you have to prepare two sauces, the first with squid and octopus and the second with tomatoes and pumpkin.

Prepare the squid-and-octopus sauce. Let the tufts of squid and bay octopus thaw at room temperature.
Put 2/3 of the onion in a pan with 1 1/2 tablespoon olive oil. Let the onion brown on a very low heat, stirring often. Add the tufts and baby octopus (let them whole), stir and let all the ingredients flavor for few minutes.
Pour in the wine and bring to the boil. Let the wine evaporate on low heat, stirring now and then.
Meanwhile bring some water to the boil. When the wine is almost reduced add the hot water to cover the molluscs completely. Add the bay leaf and parsley too. Season to taste with salt and keep on cooking on low heat for about 40 to 45 minutes. Add other hot water if necessary.
The baby octopus and squids must be tender and the cooking juice well reduced.

Prepare the tomato sauce. Let the other onion brown in the remaining olive oil. Add the puréed tomatoes, 100ml (3 1/3 fluid ounces) warm water and the pumpkin crushed with a fork. Stir accurately and let the sauce bring to the boil. Season to taste with salt and cook for other 15 minutes. Your sauce must be thick.

Cook the spaghetti. 15 to 20 minutes before the squid-and-octopus sauce finishes its cooking you can cook the pasta. Bring to the boil abundant salt water and cook the black spaghetti according to the directions on the package. Cook the pasta al dente stage. Drain it and trasfer into the pan again.

The last step. Pour the two sauces into the pan with the spaghetti and stir accurately.
Your spaghetti dish is ready.

Serving at Halloween or for a special occasion. Follow these directions.
Drain the spaghetti very well and divide in the individual plates (black for the best result).
Spoon the tomato sauce on the top and then the mollusc sauce. Arrange the baby octopus so that their tentacles can be seen well. Look at the photo for more details. Remember to use heated sauces.
Serve at once.
Every guest will stir all the ingredients together. So make sure the plate is big enough but don't choose this presentation if you're planning a formal lunch or dinner.
You have another possibility. Drain the pasta and transfer it into a large bowl. Spoon the two sauce as written above and let your guests look at the presentation. Then you can stir the ingredients and serve everybody.

Note

• - 200g (7 ounces) baked pumpkin derives from 300 to 400g (10 1/2 to 14 ounces) fresh pumpkin. At first you have to remove its skin and then its seeds. Cut it into pieces. Wrap the pieces in foil and bake at 180°C (350°F) for about an hour or until tender. The pumpkin cooked in this way is not waterlogged and gives you very satisfactory results in every recipe.
• - You can add a piece of hot chili pepper to the sauce ingredients if liked.
• - If you don't find black spaghetti (flavored with cuttlefish ink) you can use black tagliatelle (noodles), fresh version included. Remember your sauces must be not too reduced.
  

What's the right wine for " Black spaghetti with baby actopus and squid "?

Our suggestion is: Alghero bianco (wine of Sardinia)