Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking - Marcella Hazan [63]
1. Clean the squid. Cut the sacs into narrow rings, ¼ inch broad or less. Separate the larger tentacle clusters in two, and cut in half all tentacles that are longer than 1 inch.
2. Put the oil and garlic into a soup pot and turn the heat on to medium. Cook, stirring from time to time, until the garlic becomes lightly colored. Add the parsley, stir once or twice, add the squid, stir to coat well, add liberal grindings of pepper and the wine, and turn all ingredients over once or twice. If the liquid is not sufficient to cover the squid by at least 1½ inches, add as much water as necessary. When the liquid begins to simmer, cover the pot and turn down the heat to medium low.
3. Cook for 40 minutes or more until the squid rings feel tender when prodded with a fork. Whenever the level of liquid falls below 1½ inches above the squid, add more water.
4. While the squid cooks, clean the artichoke. Cut it lengthwise into the very thinnest possible slices, leaving on part of the stem wherever possible. Put the sliced artichoke in a bowl with enough cold water to cover and the juice of ½ lemon.
5. When the squid is tender, add salt and stir well. Drain the artichoke slices, rinse them in cold water, and add them to the pot. Add enough water to cover the ingredients by 2 inches. Add a little more salt, stir thoroughly, and cover the pot again. Cook until the artichoke is tender, about 15 minutes, more or less, depending on the artichoke. Taste and correct for salt and pepper.
6. Put a slice of the garlicky bread in each individual soup bowl, pour soup over it, and serve at once.
PASTA
The Essentials of Cooking Pasta
The pot Use a lightweight pot, such as enameled aluminum, that will transmit heat quickly and be easy to handle when full of pasta and boiling water.
The colander An ample colander with feet attached should be waiting, resting securely in the kitchen sink or a large basin.
Water Pasta needs lots of water to move around in, or it becomes gummy. Four quarts of water are required for a pound of pasta. Never use less than 3 quarts, even for a small amount of pasta. Add another quart for each half pound, but do not cook more than 2 pounds in the same pot. Large quantities of pasta are difficult to cook properly, and pots with that much water are heavy and dangerous to handle.
Salt For every pound of pasta, put in no less than 1½ tablespoons of salt, more if the sauce is very mild and undersalted. Add the salt when the water comes to a boil. Wait until the water returns to a full, rolling boil before putting in the pasta.
Olive oil Never put oil in the water except when cooking stuffed homemade pasta. In the latter case, a tablespoon of oil in the pot reduces the friction and keeps the stuffed pasta from splitting.
Calculating servings One pound of factory-made, boxed dry pasta should produce 4 to 6 servings, depending on what follows the pasta. For approximate servings of fresh pasta, see the section on homemade pasta.
Putting the pasta in the pot The pasta goes in after the boiling water has been salted and has returned to a full boil. Put all the pasta in at one time and cover the pot briefly to hasten the water’s return to a boil. Watch it to avoid it boiling over and extinguishing the gas flame. When the water has once again returned to a boil, cook either uncovered or with a lid on largely askew. Using a long wooden spoon, stir the pasta the moment it goes into the water, and frequently thereafter while it is cooking.
• If you are cooking long dried pasta such as spaghetti or perciatelli, when you drop it in the pot, use a long wooden spoon to bend the strands and submerge them completely. Do not break up spaghetti or any other long pasta into smaller pieces.
• If you are using homemade pasta, gather all of it in a dish towel, tightly hold one end of the towel high above the boiling water, loosen the bottom end, and let the pasta slide into the pot.
Al dente Pasta must be cooked until it is firm to the bite, al dente. The firmness of spaghetti and other dried factory pasta