Arroz negro

Finland (and subsequently I) is going through the darkest period of the year. Literally. In the morning my brain simply refuses to accept the sounds of the alarm, demanding I get out of bed and try to make something of my day. 

None of this is, of course, helped by the fact that neither one of us is a morning person, though it manifests itself in very different ways. The Boy Next Door is paralyzed completely and left to form sentences only after his 7th pint of coffee. And even then, only using lyrics by Pink Floyd. I on the other hand are so full of boiling rage as I try to get the circus on the road I'm surprised my skin hasn't melted away. By the time we're finally out the door, an hour behind the intended schedule (somewhat inevitable result of first hitting the snooze for an hour straight) The Boy Next Door's ridiculously optimistic observations on how "luckily it's only -4" offer no consolation. IT IS COLD! IT IS A GOOD 21 DEGREES BELOW WHAT CONSTITUTES GOOD LIVING!

But if one is hellbent on finding something good to say about the weather it is not having to worry about frozen goods thawing on the way home from the shop. This is what I kept telling myself as I was waiting for the tram the other day, not being able to feel my toes and the freezing wind plastering my eyes shut. Black day called for black rice.

Arroz Negro is a dish typical for Valencia and Catalonia. Sometimes also called Black paella, it gets its regally rich black colour from squid (or cuttlefish) ink. Mine came in 4 g sachets, but especially if you clean and prep your own squid (or cuttlefish), feel free to use the one harvested from them. For instructions as to how to, please see here.

At its simplest the dish consists of squid (or cuttlefish), rice and green pepper. Instead of pepper (which would go into the dish after the onions) I used wakame seaweed left over from that mung bean noodle salad. My initial plan was to whip up a vibrant green vinaigrette of some sort to drizzle around the edges of the dish but in the end (having ran out of both patience, time and creativity) I just folded the seaweed into the dish. A nice addition though as it lends the dish nice, equally oceany lightness. 

Arroz negro differs from its Italian cousin risotto in that all the stock goes into the pan at the same time and is then left to be absorbed over gentle simmer. There's also not a whole lot of stirring involved, so the end result is not as creamy as risotto would be. In case that's the preferred consistency, do add the stock one ladle at a time and towards the end fold in some mascarpone. 

Serves four:

2 shallots

3 dl risotto rice or paella rice

1,5 dl white wine

1-1,25 l shellfish stock (homemade or shop-bought)

25 g squid ink

600 g cleaned squid (frozen whole ones 1 kg)

150 g wakame seaweed

(2 generous tbsp mascarpone)

to serve: the zest of 1/2 lemon, handful of chopped parsley

Marinade for the squid:

1/4 dl olive oil

the zest and juice of 1/2 lemon

1/2 - 1 red chilli (depending on your taste and marinating time)

2 garlic cloves

Thaw the squid, clean (for how-to, see here!) and cut into 1 cm-rings. Pat dry. Combine the ingredients for the marinade, pour over the squid and leave to marinate while preparing the rice (or longer, depending on how much time you've got). For a short cut you can skip this phase and toss in the squid to cook with rice before the stock goes in. Drain wakame if needed.

Prepare the rice. Finely chop the onions, sauté in butter and then add rice. Let that, too, sauté until translucent and then add wine and ink. Let those be absorbed and then add stock. Let simmer until rice is almost done (10-20 minutes), adding more stock if needed. A little before the rice is done, drain the squid and fry on a hot (griddle) pan and toss into the rice to finish cooking. Keep the tentacles for serving.

When the rice is cooked (much like with risotto, you want the consistency to be a bit on the loose side as it will set quickly anyway!) fold in wakame (and mascarpone is using) and parsley, leaving some to sprinkle on top of the dish, too. Check the taste and season as needed.

Sprinkle lemon zest and reserved parsley on top along with the tentacles and serve. 

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ANYONE FOR SECONDS?

         

Crispy fried calamari with nori salt

Can you freaking believe this country that I live in? When Burger King opened in Finland, the queue actually went around the block. Next invasion: Starbucks. And now there are talks about Dunkin' Donuts. I'm not crazy about chain restaurants and even after all my travelling around the world I'm in no rush to have any international chains here either.

Well... maybe... with the exception of Wagamama, which I fell for when living in London. In Stockholm (yes, they have a branch over there!) it's always one of my must-eats. And I always have the same order: duck gyozas, serving of edamame and and those deliriously delicious crispy fried calamari. And what do you know - we'll be minibreaking in Stockholm next weekend! Only I have already planned the day around eating to a point that there's simply no room for Wagamama - neither in the schedule or in my stomach... So, I'll have to make do with a home-made version!

Serves 2-3

Crispy calamari:

350 g baby squid (cleaned tubes and/or tentacles)

2-3 dl rice flour

oil for frying

Thaw and drain the squid. Pat them dry. Cut the tubes open and score the insides with a sharp knife in a diamond pattern. This way the curl up nicely when fried. The tentacles can be used as they are.

Drench the squid in rice flour and leave them there for about 15 minutes. This way they'll be thoroughly dry and coated which helps them get crisp. Heat oil and a heavy-based pan and fry squid in batches for a couple of minutes.  Drain on kitchen towels and sprinkle with nori salt. 

Nori salt:

4 sheets of nori (seaweed)

4 tbsp sea salt

Bake nori sheets at 200 for 5-7 minutes until they're dry and crunchy. Grind them either using a pestle and mortar or blender. Mix with salt and store in an air-tight container. 

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SAISIKO OLLA LISÄÄ?

      

Pulpo con sherry y pimentón

Though we did have our share of new potatos and herring at our Midsummer table we didn't really bother with any traditions. And our take on herring: one with curry dressing and the other with coconut, chilli and coriander-infused tomato dressing probably wouldn't have found any favours in the eyes of the folklore nazis anyway...

And so this turned out to be one of our favourites. I've long been dreaming of octopus carpaccio but have not been able to locate those big, football-size octopi I used for Galician tradition Pulpo a la Gallega. So I've had to make do with these baby ones. This time they found themselves bathed in tomato sauce spiked with some sherry and pimentón. Next time I'll eat the whole batch by myself make twice as much.

Serves 2

500 g baby octopus

1/2 fennel
2 garlic cloves (or 1 massive)
1 red chilli
3 anchovy fillets
1 tsp pimentón
1/2 dl sherry (Olorosa) or really, really dry white wine
1/2 tin (finely) crushed tomatos or passata
(salt) black pepper

to serve: squeeze of fresh lemon juice, fresh parsley

Thaw the octopus and (if needed) clean them. Peel fennel, cut in half, remove the hard core and slice thinly.Thinly slice chilli and garlic too. Heat some oil in a pan, throw in garlic, chilli and anchovies, toss around for a bit and then add pimentón. Then add fennel and sherry. Let come to boil and then add octopi and crushed tomatos. Bring heat down and let simmer, covered, for an hour. (keep checking to make sure there's still some liquid left). Check the taste, season as needed and sprinkle some fresh parsley on top.

Serve with lemon wedges, wine (what do you know - we even have a recommendation for one!) crusty country bread and sights of pleasure.

After finally getting the last shop run out of the way for Midsummer The Boy Next Door (not the social media savviest of people) went ahead and posted a photo of our wine arsenal for the weekend. The haul (impressive as it was) evoked cries of concern as the relatives were fretting over our fate at the hands of the devil that is alcohol. Worry not though: we were merely trying on the lifestyle of European Bon Viveurs and wine atsting our way through the lot.

For this - spurred on by The Boy's lyrical notions - we paired this new acquaintance from Italy, served slightly chilled. Planet Etna Rosso 2012, made from Nerello Mascalese, one of Italy's many native grapes and grown on the foot of Mount Etna had lovely, fruity light acidity echoing those of our favourite rosés with notes of red berries and worked wonderfully - totally kicking the ass of the rosé I had initially paired for this. What do you know. The Boy's actually learning stuff!

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ANYONE FOR SECONDS?

      

Fish pie a.k.a. how to win over mother-in-law

Dating an older man has its perks. But unless the said older man is in his eighties, there's a chance that even he comes with mother-in-law.

The diet of mine seemed to consist mostly of Silk Cuts, but in an attempt to win her over I decided to have her over for dinner. I cooked for hours and in the process chopped off my fingertips (accidentally, mind you - I'm not a serial killer on the run from FBI, desperately trying to get rid of my fingerprints!) But with Scandinavian stoicism (and a plastic bag wrapped around my bleeding hand) I soldiered on and managed to get the food on the table. And what did she do? She brought her own food. In a zip lock bag. Didn't want to "be any trouble", you see.

Since then she (too) has dared to try my cooking. And actually liked some of it. Such as this British classic: fish pie.

If you want, you can substitute orange zest with lemon zest but I find orange gives fish dishes a lovely warmth. If you prefer a fishier taste, instead of milk you could make the sauce with shell fish stock, in case you've been busy making some. 

Depending on the serving size this feeds 3-4

Fish stew:

2 tbsp butter

1/2 onion
1/2 tbsp grated orange zest
1/2 tsp chilli powder
salt, white pepper
2 tbsp flour
5 dl milk
1 tbsp lobster fond
1 tbsp tomato pure
1 dl cream
1 tsp dill
50 g peas

300 g firm fleshed white fish
4 small squid tubes cut to 1/2 cm rings (about 1 dl)
12 king prawns
3 slices of cold smoked salmon

Mashed potatos:

8 potatos
6 generous tbsp butter
1 tbsp chopped chives
hot milk
salt, white pepper

Boil or steam the potatos. Mash with butter adding milk (if needed) for right consistency.Add chives and season. Let cool until ready to bake.

Finely chop the onion and sauté in butter until soft. Then add flour and keep stirring for a couple of minutes. Then add (hot) milk and stir until smooth. Keep cooking over moderate heat for about 10 minutes. Then add lobster find, orange zest, tomato concentrate, chilli and cream. Check the taste and season as needed. Then add fish and seafood in the order of cooking. First fish, cut into strips of a couple of cm thick, a couple of minutes later king prawns and a couple of minutes after that the squid and the peas. Cook, covered for a little while until everything's done.  Divide into bowls and let cool for a bit.

Top with strips of cold smoked salmon. Then spread the mash on top (for an even finish, use the back of a spoon dipped in hot milk!). If you want, you can decorate using a fok. If you really want to go to town with it, you can use a piping bag, but in that case you'd better double the quantity of mash.

Bake at 200° until the pie starts to colour a bit.

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ANYONE FOR SECONDS?

        

Red fish curry

My love of seafood has probably become obvious to everyone reading this blog. So, any given time my freezer is packed with some sort of oceany delicacies. One of my favourites is calamari and I usually buy it in bigger lots which I then clean and freeze in batches ready to be be used. On a moment my delusional mind has probably perceived as organizational my brain has devised a classification system. "A, B, C", I hear you ask? Or perhaps something as logical as "1,2,3"? Nope. I am currently the proud owner of several little bags labelled with the following codes: I, B and R. What the letter stands for I'm not sure even a Dan Brown novel could make sense of. But there must be some logic behind them, right...?

The ones classified as "R" found their way into this dish, along with the king prawns, mussels and fish left behind from Spaghetti Nero. This also provided a convenient way to give a new lease on life for some herbs and such by turning them into a red curry paste! The original recipe came from here though it did get modified a bit. I did not have shrimp paste, so I had the choice of either rushing to the Asian supermarket across the town or substituting it with lobster fond. Guess which one I opted for?

Asian supermarkets are such treats - any foodie finds him/herself giddy there as a kid in a candy store. Not only are they superb for all Asian spices and such, they also tend to have the most amazing (and superbly affordable!) seafood selection. In Helsinki there's no place like Vii Voan in Hakaniemi.

This portion of curry paste makes enough for 4 person. Or two 2 person's portions - the leftover paste can be frozen.

Red curry paste:

1 shallot or small regular onion

4 cloves of garlic

2 lemon grass stems 

2-3 red chillis (depending on their size and your palate)

1 heaped tsp grated fresh ginger (or ginger paste)

2 tbsp tomato concentrate

3 tbsp fish sauce or soy sauce

1 tsp lobster fond

1 tsp cumin

3/4 tsp gound coriander seeds
3/4 tsp fennel seeds

1 tsp white pepper

1 tsp sugar (or more, depending on your taste)

Grind the ingredients to a paste either in a blender or using a pestle and mortar. Start with the tougher, more fibrous ones such as lemon grass and ginger. If needed, add a dash of water to get a smoother paste - any excess liquid will evaporate when it hits the hot pan. Check the taste and season with salt as needed.

Red fish curry (serves 2):

2 generous tbsp red curry paste (half of the amount above)
1/2 red chilli
1 tsp grated ginger
1 garlic clove
1 can coconut milk (thick and creamy - none of that watert low-fat variety)
200 g firm, white fish (I used pangasius)
10 king prawns
10 mussels
4 squid tubes (á appr. 15 cm) 

fresh lime, rest of the chilli and coriander leaves to serve

Heat the wok/ frying pan. Add finely chopped chilli, ginger and garlic. Toss them in a little bit of oil and then add curry paste. Add coconut milk, stir until smooth and bring to boil. Then reduce the heat and start adding the fish and seafood in the order of cooking. 

First add fish, cut to strips of a couple of cm thick. Cook, covered for about 5 minutes and then add prawns (if you're using raw ones). Keep cooking for 5 minutes longer until the prawns are done. Then add mussels and the squid, chopped to 1/2 cm thick rings. If the prawns you're using are cooked, thaw them first and add at this point. Cook for a couple of more minutes and throw away mussels that haven't opened (the beauty of using pre-cooked frozen ones is that there's no risk of them all being dead). Check the taste and add fish sauce, soy sauce or salt if needed. Serve with dash of freshly squeezed lime juice, rest of the chilli and loads of chopped coriander leaves.

In England where The Gentleman is originally from, this weeks marks the National Curry week so have a happy, fragrant and only marginally pungent and finger-staining week, everyone!

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ANYONE FOR SECONDS?

        

Spaghetti Nero

I´ve been amusing myself my comparing the contents of my and the neighbourhood's British tourists' shopping baskets. Well, based on the content of theirs (packet of hot dogs, bottles of whisky, vodka and gin, 6-pack of tonic, giant bag of crisps and a canister of Coke) I've taken the liberty to assume they're Brits anyway.

Then there's mine. All the seafood that's been available that day - often with no idea what to do with them. But this is one of the best uses I've come up with. Black spaghetti is available in some supermarkets, but in case you get hold of squid ink, you can make your own.  Provided you have a pasta machine... In case you use regular pasta (the way I did) add the ink into the cooked and drained pasta. There's no point adding it to the water (as I learnt after 4 sachets)  as it won't absorb properly. Dying couscous or rice with squid ink is based on them absorbing the water they're cooked in. One 4 g sachet is enough for approximately 250 grams of pasta/ rice/ couscous.

Since the black colour gives this dish fairly dramatic look, I wanted to let the colour do all the talking and didn't want to distract it with cream- or tomato-based sauce. Instead I tossed the pasta in butter and white wine instead. Simple, but (as those clams in Benalmadena showed) so delicious!

I used king prawns, mussels and octopus. The big ones I used for Pulpo a la Gallega and those cocktail-potatos too. They are available frozen at big supermarkets. As the cooking is a bit of a time-consuming process, I usually cook a bigger batch and freeze them for later use. Obviously you can use calamari rings too, or the kind of seafood mix I used for Ensalada Rusa.

Serves 2

2 portions of pasta (spaghetti or linguine)

16 king prawns
10 mussels
about 200 gr octopus
1 garlic clove
1/2 chilli
the zest of 1 lemon
A couple of tbsp butter
1,5 dl white wine
salt, pepper
handful of parsley

If the mussels you're using are pre-cooked, thaw them first.

Cook the pasta according to instructions on the packet. In the meanwhile make the sauce. Sauté thinly sliced garlic, grated lemon zest and chopped chilli in butter. If you're using uncooked prawns, peel them (you can leave the tail on) and add into sauce now. As they start to turn pink, add white wine, mussels and octopus. Let simmer under lid for a couple of minutes. If the mussels you're using are fresh, at this point throw away the ones that haven't opened. Check the taste and season as needed.

In case you're using squid ink, add the content of the sachet into the cooked and drained pasta carefully as it tends to colour everything else that gets in its way too. Pour the sauce on top, sprinkle the parsley and serve.

And if you can't get squid ink, don't worry - the dish tastes fine with regular spaghetti too. And you can always switch off the lights - in the dark any spaghetti looks black!

Chipirones - tiny, tiny squid

Though all this cooking might be hard on the hands, it sure is easy on the eye. I just love mooching around the local shops, admiring their offerings. There are bakeries, greengrocers, butchers and fishmongers.

Then there are peculiar little freezer shops. I mean, it's not freezers they sell but they consist of huge freezers stocking everything from tortillitas de camarones, croquetas and other tapas treats... frozen. It's almost as if people here don't cook anything from scratch...?

The other day I walked down to Arroyo. Sure, our own freezer is so full I could probably open my own shop, but moderation has never been a forte of mine. I dropped by at my favourite fishmonger that also has a tapas restaurant next door speclialized in (you guessed it) fish and seafood where we often lunch. The selection in both of them is just divine. There's cod, salmon, mackerel, merluza, dorado, mussles, clams, scallops, razor clams, squid, cuttlefish, prawns... Most of the goodies on display I don't even recognize. But everything I want to try.

They remind me of the time I've spent in Brittany, where on Sundays I would go to the market and buy the lunch ingredients from the fishermen fresh in from the sea with their daily bounty. Oh la la...

 

This time my bounty consisted of chipirones, tiny, tiny calamari that I haven't often come across in the shops.

Chipirones, lightly floured and fried in oil is one of our tapas favourites. Easy, quick and gooooood. Once you get over their tiny eyes staring at you...

As a tapa this is enough for 4. As a racion it feeds 2.

500 gr chipirones
3 dl flour (for gluten-free teats, use rice four)
oil for frying
salt and lemon for serving

Let the chipirones thaw. Drain them in a colander and pat as dry as possible with kitchen towel - otherwise they'll just end up soft and soggy.

Toss in flour and fry in hot oil in small batches (learn here why). Drain on kitchen towel and serve with a generous sprinkling of salt and lemon. Do remember to keep changing the kitchen towel with each batch - once it's oily it won't absorb any residual oil from the chipirones and they won't stay crisp and gloriously crunchy.

Asian squid sausage

So far I've tried and failed at dry January and fasting February. So, in keeping with the theme, this month could have been meatless March. Which, without a doubt, I would have cocked up was well.

As you might have already figured out, I love meat. During our holidays The Gentleman takes pictures of sights representing mankind's significant cultural heritage. I... I glue my nose (and lense) to butcher's windows and admire... cold cuts.

When a sausage is good, it just is... something really good. When the quality (and quantity) of the meat has not been compromised, I'm game the way Rudolf the Reindeer could not have imagined.

The Gentleman owns a house in England too, surrounded with some veritable Emmerdale scenery. The butcher in the village is one of the best I've ever come across. Sure he's got your traditional pork sausages and cumberlands, but also chicken with ginger and lemon grass and some seriously spicy chilli sausages. And all meat- no flour, pink slime (or horse ) anywhere in sight.

In Helsinki my pilgrimage takes me to Hakaniemi market hall and to Hakkarainen's stall. Their selection  of fresh sausages is the best in the city. Perhaps in the whole of Finland...?

And as much as I would love to make my own, I lack the skills and this kitchen lacks the facilities. So, I'll just settle for stuffing those squids.

I've made them with a variety of stuffings: squid-spinach stuffing, prawns and even with chorizo. This time we did it the Gangnam style. Well, no. But with some Asian influences anyway. As the stuffing is, owing to the coconut flakes, pretty dry, you might want to use fattier mince such as pork for this. Or a blend of pork and beef. But there's nothing wrong with using just beef. In that case you might want to add a couple of teaspoons of tomato sauce to add a little moisture into the mixture.

And again, if squid is not your thing, you can use the mixture to roll some Asian-flavoured meatballs!

The best variety for these are calamari pequeño, the small ones. They're about 10 cm x 5 cm in size. I usually buy a bigger batch, clean them and then freeze in suitable portions. For instructions on cleaning squid, please see here.

This calls for intact tubes, but the broken ones are still good for plenty of other things. I freeze them (and the tentacles) for later use: Tunisian style stuffed calamari or marinated seafood salad.

Makes 6

6 cleaned small squid tubes
150 gr mince
2 tbsp coriander, chopped (as these are cooked, this is a fine way to use the stalks too)
1 heaped tbsp spring onions or chives, chopped
1,5 tbsp lime zest
the juice of 1/2 lime
1,5 tsp ginger, grated
1 big garlic clove, finely chopped
1 small chilli (or less or more, depending on your palate and the fieriness of your chilli)
1 tbsp coconut flakes
1,5 tbsp soy sauce

Mix the ingredients to a smooth paste. Let it sit in the cold for a while as this will help the flavours to come together. Shape into 6 kebab-like sausages (the tubes are easier to stuff this way). Pat the tubes dry and stuff with the mince. If needed, use your fingers to make sure the stuffing goes in all the way to the end of the tube. Don't overstuff, as these will balloon when cooked. 

The squid sausage before...

Close the tubes with a tooth pick, sprinkle some oil on them and cook in a grill or a griddle pan for a couple of minutes per side. Before cooking, you might want to pierce them with a tooth pick to help the steam get out without the whole squid bursting, as that is not a look you or your kitchen are going for this spring.

...and after the grill.

Today these were served with a minty (fresh from our own garden- oh, joy...) cucumber salad.

1 small cucumber 

handful of chopped mint leaves

appr. 1/2 lime, juiced

a sprinkling of garlic powder
another one of ginger
salt to taste

Split the cucumber in half lengthways. Scoop the watery bit in the middle using a teaspoon. Slice the cucumber lengthways into thin strips, using either a vegetable peeler or a mandolin. Mix with the rest of the ingredients and let sit and soften for about 10 minutes.

Tunisian stuffed squid

It feels absurd that it's already been two years since I lived in Tunisia and had the front row seats to  the upheaval that was the Arab spring. My friends there are not feeling too hopeful about the future (still) and it is commonly feared that they have merely made a transition from one tyranny to another. 

Lately my thoughts have been with Tunisia and the chaos that the country now has descended to. So, today the inspiration for the stuffed squid came from Tunisia.

For this I used a slightly bigger variety - 20 cm x 8 cm kind. Cleaning them only seems like a lot of work. Messy it can be, mind you (though I'm sure that eventually we'll manage to clean the kitchen curtains too...) And once you get the hang of it, it can be rather... relaxing.

Pull the head off, then pull the plastic-looking spine thing sticking out, remove any intestiney-mess left inside the tube, pull or cut of the fins and then pull the purple-coloured skin off. Trim the head-part right below the eyes, pop off the little ball in the middle and that was it! For stuffing squid (especially this size) you really need intact tubes, so I tend to buy a couple of extra, just in case. I clean them and freeze the cleaned tubes for later use and the broken ones along with tentacles separately for other purposes, such as salads, stuffing or croquetas.

This is an excellent waste-minimazing mission too: the leftovers from the cleaning are used for the stuffing and the ink is used to dye the couscous. Squid ink is sold here individually, too, and can be used to dye rice, pasta and mayonnaise, should you be in that way inklined (geddit? INKlined?) There's no need to fear the taste, it only has a hint of ocean, whereas especially for couscous it lends a beautiful, caviar-like appearance.

Serves 2

Stuffing:  

2 squids, cleaned
1,5 dl spinach
1 dl parsley, chopped
1 egg
1,5 dl squid tentacles and such leftovers
0,5 dl couscous (uncooked)
1,5 tsp mint
1,5 tsp dill
1 heaped tbsp sprin onions or chives
1 heaped tsb grated lemon zest
salt, pepper to taste

Sauce:

1 onion

1 tsp garlic, chopped finely
1 dl tomato concentrate
3 tsp harrisa paste
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp fennel seeds
6-7 dl water

Mix the ingredients for the stuffing and stuff the squid with it. Don't overstuff, as they might explode. Close the tube openings with a couple of tooth picks.

Heat some oil in a pan and fry the garlic and onion. Then pour in fennel, paprika, harissa paste and tomato concentrate. Mix well and cook for a while. Then add water and stir to a smooth sauce.

Place the squids into the sauce and cook on a medium heat for 30-35 minutes (depending on the size of the squid). Keep checking that the liquid hasn't evaporated and while doing that, spoon some sauce on top.

When cooked, slice the squid and serve with couscous and the rest of the sauce.

(Cook the couscous according to the instructions on the package. If using squid ink, 1 sachet is enough for 2 dl of uncooked couscous)

Salvador Dali's spaghetti

I'm not particularly innovative or creative cook. The wheel won't be invented in this kitchen (we'd rather call for a cab). So there's a chance this just might be the only original idea I'll ever have. But it is pretty darn genius.

Let's call it Salvador Dali's spaghetti as an homage to Spain's own son, who, at times, truly was genius. When he wasn't being just plain crazy. The name is also fitting because with his work, what you see is often not real. Same applies here. It looks like meatball spaghetti but that it ain't. 

The dish was created by an accident when I lived in Tunis. Back then my Saturday morning ritual was to head to the Central Market, where I bought the fresh fish, seafood, veggies and merguez sausages for the week ahead. After returning home, I'd pour myself a glass of rosé and start cooking lunch. The seafood selection at the market was superb and inevitably my eyes got greedier than my stomach (or fridge) could accommodate. I used to eat squid there a lot, too, and once, as I was cutting squid into rings I had, deep in my own thoughts, just continued cutting the squid- resulting in one continuous squid strip. I proceeded to cut it even thinner and voilá- carb-free spaghetti was born. 

In Tunis I used to have this stir-fried along with the rest of the seafood goodies from the market or drenched with sauce made from lamb merguez, onion, green pepper and a dollop of cream (more on this recipe later). This time I made some prawn balls to go with it and yikes and wowcha, it was goooood.

The squid I used was 20 cm x 8 cm, cut into thin ribbons. The smaller ones make for thinner (and perhaps a bit more tender?) ribbons, but you'll need more of those. One 20 cm 8 cm squid made enough spaghetti (appr. 1,5 dl) for one portion. If you can't get your hands on whole squid, you could, of course, use the frozen ready-cut rings (the plain, not the breaded kind). In that case you might want to cut them into thinner width. 

When cooking squid one must always remember that it should (depending on the size, too) be cooked either really quickly or really long. For this dish you can either cook it in salted boiling water for about one minute or flash fry it on the pan in a little bit of oil.

The prawn balls I made from those supersized king prawns I've been raving about, but you can use the smaller sized too - as long as the quantity is the same. For this recipe the quantity was appr. 2,5 dl of chopped prawns. That yields (depending on the size of your balls....) 9-10 prawn balls.

For 2

Prawn balls

10 really big king prawns

1/2 (heaped) tsp grated lemon zest

1 heaped tbsp chopped spring onions (or chives)
1 heaped tbsp chopped parsley
1/2 chilli, chopped finely
(tune it down or up depending on the fieriness of your chillis)
1 heaped tbsp bread crumbs
1,5 tbsp tomato sauce
1,5 tbsp water
salt, pepper to taste

Mix the tomato paste and water and mix with the bread crumbs. Let the crumbs absorb the liquid. Then add the chopped prawns (I chopped them with a knife, all Kamikaze sushi chef-style, but I'm sure you can use a machine) and the rest of the ingredients. Let them rest in the fridge while you make the sauce.

Sauce

1/2 small onion, shopped finely

1  tsp pimiento or any other mild paprika 1 tsp grated orange zest
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 chilli (again, adjust according to the fieriness of the chilli you're using)
1/2 tsp tomato concentrate
2 dl tomato sauce
2 dl shell fish stock
a dash of white wine (or sherry or lemon juice)
salt, pepper to taste
handful of chopped parsley

Heat some oil in a pan. Add the onion, orange zest, ginger, garlic, chilli and paprika powder. Cook, while stirring, until the onions have softened and are transluscent. Add the white wine and bring to boil. The pour in the shellfish stock and tomato sauce. Let bubble on moderate heat and check the taste. Season with salt and pepper. Now roll the prawn balls.

Roll the paste into little balls of equal size (lightly oiled hands help, though the mixture is sticky. It easier to form when it's been cooled though) and gently drop them into the sauce. Treat with care, as the texture is more vulnerable than that of the meatballs.

Cook in moderately low heat until done, about 5 minutes.

Cook the squid spaghetti, either in a pan or in rapidly boiling water. Place in a bowl and top with sauce. Scatter the parsley on top and fire away.

And if squid doesn't float your boat, the sauce and the balls are good with regular spaghetti too...