This calamari pasta dish is the perfect light and healthy delight for the warm days. It is selected from Alice Zaslavsky’s wonderful new book Salad for Days (Murdoch Books) and would be perfect for that weekend lunch out in the garden. The best selling author of In Praise of Veg brings us “breezy ways with veg, all year round” in her latest tome. Give this yum seafood salad a go!
In this salad, PG (parsley and garlic) paste is the marinade AND the dressing, the dual fuel that’s full of flav. You can eat this warm or cold – as more pasta or more salad. The quickly blanched calamari’s terrific texturally against the al dente shells, and I quite enjoy the play of an oceanic pasta shape and protein. Don’t overcook the calamari – it’s a quick in-and-out situation. If you’d prefer to keep this plant based, sub in cooked chickpeas or big white beans.
Serves 4-6
Ingredients
350 g fresh calamari, sliced into 5 mm (1/4 inch) rings
½ cup (85 g) small capers, rinsed and drained
200 g (7 oz) sugar plum cherry tomatoes, quartered
200 g (7 oz) small shell pasta
PG Dressing
1 bunch parsley
1 garlic bulb (about 10 cloves), cloves separated and peeled
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
1 cup (250 ml) extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for splashing
1 teaspoon salt flakes
Final Bits & Bobs
Lemon wedges (optional)
Method
Bring a large saucepan of well-salted water to the boil. Meanwhile, make the PG dressing. Pick half a packed cup of the smaller parsley leaves and set aside for the garnish. Put the rest of the unpicked parsley bunch (stalks and all), garlic cloves, lemon zest and juice, olive oil and salt into a blender. Blitz to a verdant green paste and transfer to a mixing bowl. When the water is boiling, add the calamari and cook for 30 seconds, then scoop out, tap to drain and dump into the PG dressing, along with the capers and tomatoes. Wait until the water comes back to the boil, throw in the pasta shells and cook for 2 minutes less than suggested on the packet. Drain and rinse, then toss onto a tray with a splash of extra olive oil and spread out in one layer to cool down quickly and dry out a bit. Swoosh off the tray into the PG dressing, along with the reserved parsley leaves, and toss everything together. Tumble onto a platter and serve with lemon wedges, if using, and some freshly cracked pepper.
Images and text from Salad for Days by Alice Zaslavsky, photography by Rochelle Eagle. Murdoch Books RRP $45.00.
