Calamari, tomato, black olive ragù
A tomato-based pasta sauce can do no wrong, and here it’s met with the unexpected
combination of calamari and olives, all of which are cooked down to a ragù-like sauce.
To the unknowing eye, this ragù might fool one into thinking they are eating meat, which
often happens at OTTO, the upmarket Sydney-based Italian restaurant that inspired this sauce.
OTTO has been serving their strozzapreti, king prawn, black olive, chilli, tomato and calamari
pasta for 20 years. It’s well and truly cemented as a signature dish that’s loved by their £ercely
loyal diners. At one point, the restaurant tried to remove it from the menu and there was a
complete uproar, so much so that the dish came back and has since never left. The sauce is
simple in its execution, but it does require some cooking time to allow the calamari to soften.
OTTO adds prawns to the £nal dish, which I’ve left out, but of course feel free to add them
if you’re feeling fancy. Fish sauce may sound like an unusual addition, but I do as I’m told by
OTTO’s chef Richard Ptacnik – and he’s right, it adds a rich umami-ness that’s hard to match.
Ask your £shmonger to clean the calamari. If you buy it whole, gently pull out the legs and
backbone. Reserve the legs but discard the eyes and beak.
Serves 4
2 tablespoons extra-virgin
oliveoil
1 garlic clove, nely chopped
1 small leek, nely chopped
200 g calamari, cleaned and
very nely chopped
125 ml (½ cup) dry white wine
(one that’s good enough to
drink and enjoy with the dish)
400 g tomato passata
1 bird’s eye chilli, nely chopped,
plus extra to serve (use half
if you prefer less heat)
1 tablespoon Thai sh sauce
35 g black olives, pitted and
nely chopped
FRESH PASTA FOR 4
paccheri, calamarata (basically
paccheri cut into the size of
calamari rings)
DRIED PASTA FOR 4
conchiglie (shells),
penne, rigatoni
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Heat a heavy-based saucepan over medium heat. Add the olive
oil, garlic and leek and sauté for 2 minutes or until things start
to soften but not colour. Add the calamari (it will release lots of
liquid) and continue to cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes, until
the excess liquid from the calamari has evaporated.
Add the white wine to deglaze the pan and cook until the liquid
has again evaporated – another 5 minutes or so.
Add the passata and chilli and give everything a good stir.
Rinse your passata jar with 60 ml (¼ cup) of water and pour
that in, too. Finally, add the sh sauce. Now it’s time to let it do
its thing. Reduce the heat to low, put a lid on and leave to cook
for 2hours, checking and stirring occasionally to make sure the
sauce doesn’t burn on the bottom of the pan.
Bring a large saucepan of water to a lively boil and season as
salty as the sea. Add the pasta and cook until al dente, reserving
125 ml (½ cup) of the cooking water.
When ready to serve, add the olives to the ragù and stir
through. Add the pasta directly to the pan, along with some
of the cooking water if needed to loosen up the ragù, and give
everything a good stir.
Divide among bowls. No to serving with cheese but yes to
serving with extra chilli.