SQUID INK PASTA

THIS IS THE FIRST TIME I am preparing this dish. I couldn't sleep last night and so, at 4:00 a.m. I woke up, wrote in my journal for about an hour and a half and realized that it was either do something else and then walk Ludwig or go back to bed where I probably would have languished until about 10:00. So, rather than waste the day, I made a very strong cup of coffee and decided to make black pasta dough. It wasn't difficult at all and once I started to knead the dough by hand, it truly became much blacker than it had been in the food processor - even with the flour dustings.

Squid ink pasta can be transformed into noodles, but they can also serve very well in the process of making ravioli or tortellini and tortelloni but should always be stuffed with some kind of seafood or fish. Lobster or scampi come to mind but scallops or salmon or even a meaty white fish like monkfish or skate can be used. I prefer mine in red sauce al diavolo which is divine. A divine diavolo . . . what an oxymoron that is!

3 1/2 cups of flour (reserving the 1/2 cup or more if needed for later)
4 eggs
4 egg yolks
1/2 tsp. olive oil
2 packets of squid ink (see picture)

Measure out the flour and put in the bowl of the food processor. Beat the eggs and egg yolks with the olive oil, add them to the flour mixture as well as the squid ink. Process until a mass forms and begins to roll around the bowl in one piece. It should be very wet at this point. Add more flour if necessary, a little at a time, until everything comes off the walls of the bowl and forms a ball. 

Remove the dough from the container and put on a lightly floured cutting board and knead by hand until you have a well formed black ball of dough. You will be able to tell that it is ready when it comes off completely clean from the cutting board. Place in another bowl and cover loosely with a towel and let rest for 30 minutes or so. You can refrigerate it for a couple of hours if you're not going to roll out the dough right away.

With a pasta machine take a medium-sized chunk of dough, flatten it into a disk and roll out through the machine at the widest setting. Do this over and over again until you have a smooth, elastic rectangle. Continue to roll through the rollers adjusting the settings each time until you get to number 8. You will have to dust the sheets with flour periodically as you proceed with the rolling. 

Place each sheet on a towel to dry for awhile or on a rectangular screen (with a towel on top) to allow the sheets to dry somewhat before cutting into noodles. 

After you've finished rolling out the dough, go back and start with the first sheet you rolled out (the driest at this point) and roll through the noodle attachment. You can make either tagliolini or tagliatelle (or both). As well as you can do this lay the entire group of noodles flat on the towel over the screen and continue making noodles until all of them are finished and laid flat on the towel. Begin again with the first batch, divide that into two groups and form nests around your fingers until all of the noodles are used up. Allow to sit like this in the open air for at least 3 hours turning each nest occasionally so they dry evenly. I prefer to let them dry all day to make sure they are dry enough to store overnight if necessary. You can freeze these noodles once they are dry, but they are very delicate so they must be stored flat (no ZipLocks here, please) and you shouldn't freeze for more than a week. They do not hold up to storing in unfrozen so the noodles should be prepared as soon as possible. Obviously, since so much work is involved, this pasta is usually reserved for a special occasion or a holiday meal.

Sauces to follow!