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After a day of head-banging seminars (and I don’t mean this in a way where there was loud, pounding music going on; just that they were pretty intense on the brain) and walking back in the dark and cold wet streets, I knew I deserved a treat. The big treat was of course a day of shopping in Birmingham on Wednesday. The immediate treat was my freshly delivered Casa Rinaldi squid-ink pasta. This came through the post the previous morning. For speciality pasta, fine virgin olive oil, fruit sauces, balsamic vinegar sourced from Modena and Italy, I recommend Passionate Palate. Good service, fast replies from customer service and rather quick dispatch service as well. If you’re stressed for time, they do an emergency delivery too. Now, it can’t get any better than that eh?
The second I stepped through the front door, kicked off my wet shoes, threw my coat in the closet, bag in the bedroom and then headed straight for the kitchen to unwrap my pasta package. Mushrooms and peppers out of the fridge and sliced up. Chicken stock and crème fraîche mixed together (add the cream according to how thick you want this sauce to be. I was looking for more of a wet soupy sauce so I could taste the pasta more since chicken and squid probably ain’t the best combination). I’m sure some of you might be scrunching up your nose in disapproval of this crazy, fusion dish. But I quite fancied something like this — forest meets sea. You never know. Left the sauce to set for a bit after adding a little lemon zest, italian herbs and the smallest shake of chilli powder. Cooked the pasta til al dente then drained and poured some sauce over it. While the pasta was cooking, the mushrooms and peppers were in the frying pan with a little olive oil and cracked pepper. Now then, pasta on the plate. Mushrooms and peppers blanketing it a second after. Followed by a few tablespoons of leftover crème fraîche sauce and a little grated lemon over the top for a the tiniest creeping of lemony twang into the dish so you won’t taste so much the chicken stock.
Overall, I’m quite happy with this dish considering I’d been looking forward to it all week! Squid-ink pasta is definitely a shocker…especially if you’ve never particularly liked anything so black on your plate. But it’s got a different thing about it. Not just the colour, but it’s less wheaty? However, it really is the same thing as regular pasta. Only that before the pasta is set out to be made into its shape and then sent to undergo its drying process, squid ink is mixed into it to colour it. I couldn’t really taste that much of it since I think I might be getting down with the flu or something and can’t taste as well as I usually do. One thing for sure is that it wasn’t fishy at all. Hannah looked quite suspicious of it but not to worry. I doubt anyone would enjoy making a fishy-tasting pasta. It’s good. I’m gonna keep sourcing for squid-ink fettuccini. I’m more a fan of thick pasta rather than spaghetti types. And the next time I make it, I’ll cook it carbonara style but replace the bacon bits with calamari bits! Ahh, the anticipation.