We awoke this Sunday morning to a frost so heavy it looked like snow on the fields! The full moon was also hanging large and low in the sky amidst a pink daybreak, beautiful to behold. As the sun rose, everything glistened like diamonds, quite a site, but one very hard to catch with the camera, especially since one did not want to linger outside in the sub-freezing temperatures. My husband was the trooper.
Yes, it’s been cold, so we’re instinctively thinking about hearty food. Porridge for breakfast that sticks to the ribs, and for the rest of the day, soups, stews, potatoes and bread of all kinds, and pasta of course, all calling our names. I always think of bears feasting before their winter’s sleep, as I lean toward another meal with starchy carbs, treading lightly all the way.
Let’s start with something different.
This recipe started as many do, with a single ingredient that sparks the imagination. At the market, I found this huge bag of ‘calamari’ pasta, big loopy pieces of pasta that did indeed look like rings of calamari. It was a good pasta brand from Italy that I enjoy, die-cut and 100% durum wheat. While whole wheat pasta is the best choice nutritionally for pastas, durum wheat is a close second. It is high in protein, 13.7 grams in a one-cup serving, and contains good amounts of folate, iron, calcium, and fiber. It also has a low glycemic index which is helpful for those watching their blood sugar levels. Since I’d never seen this shape before, of course it ended up in my basket for another day.
Don’t worry, you’ll come to the party some day.
The product sat in my pantry for quite some time, other pastas having the edge for meal after meal because these really are a bit weird looking, and I wasn’t quite sure how I wanted to use them, certainly not with real calamari. But when I decided to make my butternut squash sauced pasta, these funny large rings called out to me.
Let’s simplify this!
My original sauce recipe called for peeling and chopping up the butternut squash and onion and then roasting them. I simplified the prep of the roasted veggies completely by chucking everything whole into the oven, thus saving a lot of tedious chopping time. If you’ve ever wrestled with cutting up and peeling a butternut squash, you know what I mean. It took longer to cook, yes, but it is hands-off, go have a cup of tea time, put your feet up, put on some nice music time. Let the oven do all the work, peeling everything will take seconds once roasted, and the resulting sauce is deeply colored and almost a cheese sauce imposter itself, but with virtually no saturated fat!
A free jar of liquid gold
An unexpected bonus from this bake was a roasting pan full of lovely browned, stuck-on veggie bits, and all the peelings which made one of the tastiest stocks I’ve had in a long time. A quart and a half of liquid gold I’ll use all week in making rice and sauces. It’s a wonderful found exquisite ingredient.
Little enhancements, big flavor
This time around, I also added some simple curry powder to boost the flavor of the pasta dish. It was a good move. Some spinach from the farm stand, and a little package of smoked mackerel rounded everything out. Those six ounces of smoked fish went a long way on flavor, and you can always substitute another smoked fish of choice such as salmon or haddock. Top everything off with a garnish of toasted breadcrumbs, toasted pine nuts, or both if you like.
If you cannot find the calamari pasta, rigatoni or penne would be good substitutes, or really just about any pasta you like!
We’ll keep the vegans happy too!
Of course, if you want to keep this vegetarian, simply omit the smoked fish and it will still be hearty and delicious. I would probably be tempted to add a bit of smoked paprika along with the curry powder to replace that smoky element to the dish. If you are serving both fish eaters and vegetarians, simply separate some out before adding the mackerel at the end. Everyone’s happy.
This makes a lot, a big family meal with some left over. It’s heart healthy, very low in saturated fat, and loaded with fiber and nutrients from the pasta, squash, and spinach. Serve with a healthy low-carb veggie, such as green beans or broccoli, because even though we’re craving those carbs in the cold weather, if we’re not burning them off, we should be careful about our portion sizes!
‘Calamari’ Imposter Pasta with Roasted Veggies and Smoked Mackerel
- 1 butternut squash, about 550 g. or 1 lb. 4 oz.
- 1 large or two smaller yellow onions, plus one more for the stock
- 1 entire head of garlic
- Olive oil
- 1 tsp. curry powder of choice
- Water or stock to thin
- 500 g. (17.5 oz.) calamari shaped pasta
- 118 g. (4 oz.) 1/2 cup or so pasta water
- 175 g. (6 oz) fresh baby spinach
- 175 g. (6 oz.) smoked mackerel
- Toasted breadcrumbs and toasted pine nuts to garnish
Preheat your oven to 450 F. (230 C.) or 425 F. (220 C.) convection fan. Lightly oil a roasting pan and add the squash, onions, and garlic, all whole. Use an ice pick or sharp knife to pierce the squash in a few places. Let these roast for 45 minutes. Everything should be nice and tender.
While the veggies are cooling, put your pasta water on to bring to a boil, then proceed to prepare the sauce.
Cut the squash in half, gently remove the seeds, and scrape all the flesh into a food processor or food mill. The squash should be very soft at this point, that’s what you want. Toss the skins in a stock pot. Slip the onions out of their skins too and place two of them in the food processor, adding the skins and extra onion to the stock pot. Slip the cloves of the now delightfully sweet roasted garlic out of their skins and add to the processor, skins and stem in the stock pot.
Bonus: Now, add some water to the roasting pan like you would if making a Thanksgiving turkey gravy. Place over a medium high burner and scrape up all the bits and glaze from the pan. It will likely already be a hearty, dark brown. Add to the stock pot along with water to cover, plus a little bit more, a bay leaf or two, some salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce to a simmer and let cook for a half hour to 45 minutes. You can also add to this any other leftover veggie scraps in your refrigerator. Once cooked, strain, and you have a beautiful stock to use all week. None of this is essential to the recipe, but it is making use of flavor and nutrition that would end up in the compost heap. Trash or treasure! Have you priced a quart of organic vegetable stock these days? Yours will taste better, and you can control the salt.
Once all the veggies are in the processor, process until smooth, then slowly add up to a half cup of water or stock until you get a nice sauce consistency. Add the curry powder, some salt and pepper to taste, and a drizzle of olive oil, and whirl up again. You want this very smooth. Set aside.
When your water is boiling, drop your pasta and cook for the shy side of the recommended time.
Once cooked, reserve a little cooking water to use if needed, drain the pasta, then place it back in the pot on low heat. Add the sauce, and stir to gently coat all the pasta. You might not need all the sauce, so do this a little at a time. If the sauce gets too thick, add a bit of the pasta water, also a little at a time. This is not an exact measure; you have to go by the feel of it. Season with salt and pepper, and stir in the spinach and mackerel, just long enough to wilt those greens, then turn out onto a platter.
Garnish with toasted breadcrumbs and some pine nuts. They will add a nice little texture to the dish. Of course, you can also add some Parmesan at this point, or vegan Parmesan if you do not consume dairy.
Sunday morning’s beautiful full moon over frosted fields.
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I don’t eat calimari, having tried it once and found it akin to fishy rubber, but this I would do in a heartbeat! I can almost taste it now. I enlarged the photo so I could see the pasta info, and must say I fell in love with your emotional support plant sign. I get that, as you well know! And what a beautiful morning photo!
Thanks Suz! The plant labels were a gift from my husband, who, by the way, took the morning photo!
You might not believe this, but whilst shopping this afternoon, I spotted a package of Italian pasta…that looked just like this! I am on it now, so thank you very much! I will be sure to post a photo and link back to you–with gratitude!
How funny is that Suz! Maybe the Italians are flooding the market with calamari pasta!
Another great recipe! Thanks so much Dorothy. Always a great pleasure to get inspired by your ideas! Best wishes, Michael
Thank you Michael! I’m so pleased you like this!
Roasted veggies, along with the full head of garlic add lots of flavor for your sauce.
Roasting those veggies makes such a difference, especially the garlic which is so sweet when roasted like this in their skins.
Even though it’s cold, the outdoor photo is beautiful! It’s always good to have a bowl of comfort on a Winter’s day!
Thank you Jan! It definitely warms one up!
Thank you, Dorothy, for writing so beautifully about your paster dish, perfect for me without the fish.
Joanna
It’s definitely a crowd pleaser!
Another delicious dish, Dorothy plus I love how you combine making the dish and the delicious vegetable stock…
Thanks Carol! The stock practically made itself, and it was so good!
I can taste it I love a good homemade stock naught like it x
There was enough of the roasted garlic pulp still left in the peels that you could definitely taste that sweet undertone in the broth.
My mouth is watering… that sweet garlic…
I love using different pasta shapes
They are fun, aren’t they? I’d never seen this one before!
The full moon has been hypnotic, especially the way it glows. 🌕✨
It was so big the last two moons as well. Perfect word Gail, hypnotic.
And bright!
A beautiful recipe! I actually used that pasta with squid rings! I love it.
It must have been fun, did you have big squid rings like the pasta or little ones? Our New England squid is rather small usually.
It looks incredible!
Thank you so much! We really loved this one.
Dorothy this looks so very tasty – I will bring my plate and fork!!!!
I’ll keep it warm, there’s always an empty chair at the table waiting to be filled!
The Pasta looks wonderful, all bathed in sauce. I can almost taste it!
That morning frost photo looks so Christmasy. Lovely thick crust of ice. It must have been so cold 🥶.
It was frigid Mary! But also when the sun came out there was this beautiful stillness and shimmer everywhere that just about took the breath away.
Calamari pasta is something I’ve had before at a restaurant in Fishkill NY; they had the best homemade pasta since my mom’s. They served theirs with an incredibly light but flavorful Bolognese sauce which was heavenly for us meat-eaters. Your recipe sounds so yummy and the addition of pignoli nuts is brilliant. I can almost smell it from here!
I actually had to toast extra because the little pignoli bowl sort of got harvested early…
Oh, yes …. a little extra lovin’ is needed there!
What a good idea to roast the butternut squash whole! The calamari pasta looks good!
Jenna
Roasting it whole transforms one of the hardest kitchen veggie prep tasks into one of the easiest! Don’t know why I didn’t think of it before!
My grocery store carries butternut squash already cut up which is what I buy now, so convenient!
Another wonderful recipe! Great inspiration!
That was a beautiful morning photo with the full moon!
Merry December!
Thank you Nancy! It was a magical morning.
I’ve never seen calamari pasta, awesome! I would devour that in no time at all. Your farm picture was just beautiful Dorothy!
Thank you Diane! It was new to me too!
Love, love it!
The moon over the frosted fields was very pretty.
Thank you Velva! The field was beautiful!
Your husband took a stunning picture. Do you think a large sweet potato would work as a substitute for the winter squash? Or maybe 2 sweet potatoes?
This does sound delicious!
A couple of sweet potatoes would work beautifully here! I’d certainly give it a try.
Thanks! Sweet potatoes are in all the grocery stores here right now.
Then by all means, that would be my choice too! They have been lovely this year!
Nice touch with the pinenuts! I’ll have to look for this pasta
Any excuse to use pine nuts!!!
Dorothy, I am always learning from you. For some reason, I’ve never added smoked fish to a cooked dish. This looks delicious, and I can’t wait to try your recipe. Love to you, my friend.
Thanks Mary!
It takes very little of a smoked fish to really flavor up a dish!
I love Calimari! Your recipe is a must. My Calimari experiences have been within the Asian cuisines. Happy safe seasonal Cheers to you dear Dorothy!
Calamari lends itself nicely to many cuisines.
Happy holidays to you as well!
Looks delicious!
Thank you! We enjoyed this one.
You had me at “The full moon was also hanging large and low in the sky amidst a pink daybreak.” Wow! And that pasta, damn, it looks good, but the best part was the warning about “portion control” with our comfort foods! You’re killing me. Oh how I love the cold, the dark, the fires, but especially the foods that go with it all. It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Hugs, C
Thank you my friend! There’s a lot to be said for this hunkering down time of year. Tonight is the longest night, and soon the light will return. But for now, it’s the time of introspection and rest, too. We had a snowfall again, so there will be a white Christmas here.