Squid & Chorizo Linguine... and a helluva lot of it!

Yesterday marked another foodie first for me...

...I cooked with fresh squid!

This time last year I could barely even eat it - until I tried the most amazing Indonesian squid starter... and became slightly hooked. So when I saw squid yesterday in my fishmongers, I knew it was time...

I got him to clean it for me - I wasn't quite that brave yet. And it was a Tuesday night - why not avoid effort where you can! Then I wandered back to work, stored the squid in my work fridge (!) and set about deciding on a context for my purchase. The sun was streaming in through the window (which made me believe that Spring was maybe just a little bit more here than it actually was) and I decided that a salad would be perfect. With thanks to Peter for his suggestions, I wandered off home to get the rest of my ingredients for his Prawn and Grilled Calamari Salad.

But then real-life got in the way... as it so frequently does. In this instance, in the shape of a beer-garden with a patch of sunlight - and two G&Ts! By the time the sun went in, and resumed my journey home, I was absolutely FREEZING!

The salad no longer seemed so appealing, and instead I started craving pasta - and a lot of it. So I give you instead...

Spicy Squid & Chorizo Linguine

Makes two HUGE servings!

I still nicked some of Peter's flavours - spot the difference ;) And, as this is the first pasta I've cooked for weeks, I'm going to send this over to Ruth at Once Upon a Feast for this week's Presto Pasta Night!

• 1 large squid, cleaned
• 100g chorizo, cubed
• couple of big handfuls of rocket
• 1 red chilli, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed, but kept separate
• 6 sundried tomatoes, very finely chopped
• 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp dried red chilli flakes
• a punnet of cherry tomatoes
  
• olive oil for frying
• linguine to serve

Turn on the oven to 180c. Wash the cherry tomatoes, and place in a baking tray. Roast until further notice!

Prepare the squid by butterflying it, then cutting into two halves lengthways. Using a serrated knife, score the squid in both directions to create diamonds. Score quite deeply - but don't but through! Slice the squid body into strips and place in a bowl with the tentacles, a glug of olive oil, 1 crushed clove of garlic and the fresh red chilli. Mix well - make sure the squid is well covered, then set aside.

In a heavy based frying pan, fry the chorizo over a high heat to colour the edges. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside. (Now's probably a good time to put the pasta on!) Add a wee bit more olive oil to the pan if required, and add the other clove of garlic, and the dried chilli. After about 30 seconds, add the balsamic vinegar and the sugar, and allow to reduce for 2/3 minutes. Add the sun-dried tomatoes and chorizo cook for a further minute or so then set aside.

Once the pasta has just about cooked, drain - reserving about a cup of the cooking liquor. Return the pasta to the saucepan, with the cooking liquor, the rockets and the chorizo mix. Get the roasted cherry tomatoes out of the oven and chuck them in too! Stir well and set aside while the squid is cooked.

In the same hot pan used for the chorizo mix, throw in the squid. Allow to cook for 2/3 minutes, keeping it moving all the time.

Dish up the pasta mix into a couple of bowl, then place half of the squid on top of each.

Enjoy! Btw... see the photo below? I ate that whole bowl of pasta. In one sitting. And then ate the leftover fish kebabs from the night before. Then half an Easter egg.

So maybe I should have salad tonight!

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