What to eat this week: Spaghetti with calamari, rosemary and lemon

The Mediterranean on a plate, this calamari pasta is simple, fresh and delicious.

This is a light and fresh-tasting pasta dish. Take calamari, add a little chilli heat and aromatic rosemary and lift the whole dish with tangy lemon zest and juice.

Spaghetti with Calamari, Rosemary and Lemon
Serves 4

Ingredients

• 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 onion, finely diced
• 500g cleaned calamari, cut into 2cm pieces
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary leaves
• 3 garlic cloves, very thinly sliced
• 2 long red chillies, thinly sliced
• finely grated rind and juice of 1 lemon
• 400g dried spaghettini or 300g fresh spaghettini
• lemon wedges, to serve
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the toasted crumbs

• 70g coarse fresh sourdough breadcrumbs
• 3 1/2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, crushed

Method

1  Heat a medium saucepan over a medium heat. Add the olive oil and onion and stir occasionally until the onion starts to caramelise (10-15 minutes). Increase the heat to high, add the calamari, rosemary, garlic and chillies and toss occasionally until the calamari is just cooked (1-2 minutes). Remove from the heat, add the lemon rind and juice and season to taste.

2  Meanwhile, to make the toasted crumbs, combine the ingredients in a non-stick frying pan/skillet over medium-high heat and stir until crisp (5-10 minutes). Set aside.

3  Cook the spaghettini in a large saucepan of boiling salted water until al dente (8-10 minutes for dried, 3-4 minutes for fresh). Drain, reserving a little cooking water, toss with the calamari and reserved water and mix until the pasta is well coated.

4  Serve hot, sprinkled with the toasted breadcrumbs, with lemon wedges to the side.

Extracted from Lemons and Limes by Ursula Ferrigno (Ryland Peters & Small, approx €18). Photography by Clare Winfield. Ryland Peters & Small.