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

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).

Photography by Clare Winfield. Ryland Peters & Small.