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Pasta with Squid and Tomatoes

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In How to Cook Everything Fast, recipe directions are separated into “prep” and “cook.” Here, we’ve made that distinction with italics for prep-work and plain text for cooking. This reflects the most efficient order and timing of tasks.

Units Scale

Ingredients

  • Salt
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 12 ounces cleaned squid (whole or cut; frozen is fine)
  • 1 small dried hot red chile
  • 12 ounces cut pasta (like penne or ziti)
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 large (28-ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes
  • Pepper
  • Several sprigs fresh parsley
  • 1 lemon

Instructions

  1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and and salt it.
  2. Peel and chop 3 cloves garlic.
    Thaw the squid if necessary in a colander under cold running water. If the squid isn’t sliced already, cut the bodies into rings; cut the tentacles (if you have them) in half if they’re large.
    Chop the chile.
  3. When the water boils, add the pasta and cook, stirring occasionally. Start tasting after 5 minutes.
  4. Put 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When it’s hot, add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
  5. Add the juice from the tomatoes to the skillet, followed by the tomatoes one at a time, breaking them up with your hand before you drop them in. Add the chile and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Raise the heat to high and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture becomes saucy, 2 to 3 minutes.
  6. Strip the leaves from several parsley sprigs and chop.
    Cut the lemon into wedges.
  7. When the pasta is tender but not mushy, drain it, reserving about 1 cup cooking water. Add the squid to the sauce and cook, stirring constantly, until it begins to turn opaque, about a minute. Add the pasta and parsley and a splash of cooking water if you want to make it saucier. Toss until the squid is tender and just cooked through, another minute or so. Taste and adjust the seasoning and serve with the lemon wedges.

— Recipe from How to Cook Everything Fast