A FAVOURITE FROM LAST YEAR -SQUID INK PASTA WITH KING PRAWNS AND STAR ANISE

If you ever make one thing I tell you to this has to be it. 

DO IT! This is such a special dish and is 100% my TOP Must Make.

Pasta Ingredients-

 (You can just use the '00' flour but I find this combination works well)

350g of '00' Flour/Pasta Flour

150g of Strong White Flour (usually used for baking- you should be able to pick this up anywhere)

4 x Medium Sized Free Range Eggs 

1/2 x tsp of salt

2-3 x tbsp of water - depends on eggs size and consistency once all mixed

4x squid ink sachets-think they come in 7g sachets-see pic below.

Fine Semolina - use to stop the pasta from sticking together 

TIP-You can make this pasta and dry it and use it a few days later or the following week.

Instructions-
Mix the squid ink in with the eggs.

If you have a mixer then use the K beater to combine all of the above. The mixture should turn to crumbs when adding small amounts of water. Do this literally a teaspoon at a time until it turns to bigger crumbs before coming together into bigger doughy lumps. Don't worry that it's not in a smooth ball at this stage. Take it out of the mixer and roll/knead it together into a ball as best you can. I find using the ball of your hand works best plus you get to really work those arm muscles.

-If you don't have a mixer then heap the flour up and make a well in the middle, crack the eggs into it and use a knife to mix the flour and eggs. Using your hands, bring the mixture together and knead until in a rough ball.

The trick here is to then wrap it in cling film and leave it to rest for a minimum of 30 mins or up to 3 hours. It then miraculously comes together and you only need to gently knead it a few times before it's ready to roll out. 

If you have a pasta machine, roll it through each thickness setting twice. If you don't then you need to aim to roll the pasta out so it's as thick as a penny, it should be slightly transparent. 

Squid Ink Sachets

Making The Pasta Into Nests-

Making sure your firstly lightly sprinkle the pasta with fine semolina, then fold the pasta up before slicing it into ribbons. One sliced into ribbons lay them out flat again dusted with the semolina, let them dry for around 20mins then wrap the ribbons around your finger and thumb tucking the end into the middle of the nest. Make sure it's very loosely wrapped and that the pasta is dry enough, so the ribbons don't stick to each other- the semolina should help with this. 

For the BEST sauce of all times-

1 x White Onion - finely cubed

3 x Large Garlic Cloves - Crushed and finely sliced

3x Large/Generous Glugs Of Olive Oil

Salt & Black Pepper

2x Small Glugs Of Brandy (Around 4 tbsp)

3 x Star Anise

1 x Small Handful Of Tarragon- Finely sliced

1 x 250ml Pot Of Single Cream

Fresh parmesan & extra black pepper and parsley to serve.

Instructions-

Cube the onion and garlic and add them to a generous amount of olive oil, let them gently cook in the oil for around 5 mins on a medium heat so the onion goes translucent- don't let the garlic brown.

Add the brandy, salt & pepper and let the brandy cook off again on a medium heat for around 5/6 mins.   Add the star anise and tarragon followed by the single cream and cook still on a medium heat for 10mins. You can put the sauce to one side and reheat when ready to serve or add the prawns, cook for 3 mins then serve with the squid ink pasta mixed in.  

Garnish with freshly grated parmesan, loads of black pepper and a sprinkle of parsley.

I LOVE THIS DISH