Not exactly Spaghetti alla Carbonara, I am guilty of meddling with a classic recipe. My apologies to the Purists firstly, but this was too good to not make; and, in my favour, I was out of bacon or pancetta or anything that hailed from the pig. The barrage of spring clothes catalogues through the letterbox was also starting to get me all dreamy about summer and thinking about bikinis, the beach and seafood. The last time I had carbonara was after the Christmas holiday. It wasn’t exactly carbonara considering how Big Ben and I had hardly the right ingredients (we’d just got back after the holidays and hadn’t had the chance to go shopping). It was carbonara without eggs, any seasoning or taste because Ben only had unsmoked bacon lying about. However, I was still very touched by the effort. Besides, I can only put my fork down and applaud the determination! Ploughing through despite the odds. That’s what I’m talking about.

After flipping through one of my recent purchases - Jamie’s Cook With Me, I found a recipe for making squid ink pasta. Was very pleased about that but slightly annoyed that I’d only bought this book recently because then I wouldn’t have had to scour shops and the internet for this specialty pasta ages ago! I had about a quarter of the pack left in my pantry and thought black carbonara would be wicked! Some part of me thinks black pasta is really cool too and just adds to the presentation of a pasta dish. I found some chocolate pasta in Hotel Chocolat before easter as well and although it’s going for a ridiculous price (think it was £4.25 for the tiniest bag ever! probably yields 2 small servings…and I mean like dieting girls serving), I’m quite convinced I’ll return to the shop to get it. At least to try what the fuss is all about chocolate pasta. Don’t get me wrong, I love chocolate, but chocolate and savoury might not actually cut it out for me shocking as it may sound. I remember spending a tiny fortune on a jar of special Southern Spicy Chocolate Sauce which was apparently great for fried chicken. I had the tiniest taste of it and nearly hurled. That bad. I just couldn’t believe people would actually eat it - it tasted and smelled so wrong. I don’t think it was so much that there was chocolate in it, but it was the combination of ingredients and spices that got to me. Mum and her strong, stoic countenance gave nothing away when I invited her have a taste. I’m not one to chuck food out. It hurts my heart whenever it has to be done. It really hurt when I chucked the whole jar of chocolate sauce away. I was terribly grumpy for days, especially as it had completely ruined my plans for dinner.

Anyhow, that was a story from ages ago and thank the heavens, squid ink pasta never gives you any horror stories. I love squid! And it’s one cool idea to take its ink and blend it into something else. It’s taste is so slight and delicate you’d hardly notice it if you weren’t careful enough. It’s not fishy at all but has a kind of saltiness to it, but not as intense as you’d think so it’s still great as a pasta - not having enough flavour to carry off itself, but just little enough to complement any type of sauce you fancy. In my opinion, the key to squid ink pasta is good extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice. Those 2 are key ingredients if you’re thinking about serving up some of this pasta. Lemon juice is hardly what you’d add to carbonara and I was slightly afraid that might affect my creamy eggy sauce so that was only used whilst cooking the mussels for added flavour.

Some people have issues with mussels. I, for one, have a love affair with mussels. Strangely enough, I was always extremely irked with shellfish as a child. I’d go to the beach with my sister and the Pops picking cockles and bringing home hermit crabs thinking I could keep it as a pet. Had to return it to its home of course the day after. The thought of eating shellfish, however, grossed me out plenty. Oysters, clams, you name it. The only shellfish I liked was scallops. And maybe, escargot - but that isn’t exactly a shellfish. Or is it? I think I even had an allergic reaction to clams once. I looked well pretty with inflamed rash and swollen facial features. The turnaround happened when my family was in Australia, on holiday at an oyster farm. Between checking out water golf, our seaside cabins and the oyster farm - I couldn’t escape tasting raw and cooked oysters. Couldn’t say I enjoyed it very much but that was the moment that I realized eating a shellfish wasn’t such a bad idea. And then, with this prize of newfound courage, I discovered mussels. I have never stopped loving them since. Sometimes, if they’re served with their shells on, like in paella, I even stop to admire the pretty insides of the shell after digging that gorgeous flesh out. It’s just so good. Mussels have a great taste and when cooked with the right stuff, it’s dreamy.

This recipe serves 2. My sauce is less creamy than carbonara usually is because I’ve reduced the cream amount by half. Guilty - I am watching my diet.

Squid Ink Spaghetti in Mussel Carbonara
Ingredients

8 oz dried spaghetti
1 egg and 1 extra yolk
4 tbs cream
1 1/2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup mussels, or more if you’re greedy like me
pepper and salt for seasoning
about 5 tbs grated Italian parmesan cheese
1 1/2 - 2 tsp dill
2 tbs fresh lemon juice

Cook spaghetti in hot water. Whilst it is cooking, prepare the sauce in a bowl - mixing the eggs, cream, seasoning and the grated cheese together. In a heated frying pan, cook the mussels on medium heat. When cooked through, reduce the heat and let it cook a little more with the lemon juice and dill.
When pasta is al dente, drain and quickly place it back in the saucepan hot. Pour the sauce and mussels immediately into the pan. The eggs in the sauce will start to cook as you mix it through the pasta. Using a pair of tongs, coat all of the pasta with the creamy sauce. Dish up and serve with extra grated cheese. I’ve served the spaghetti with some long sprouting broccoli which is amazing with creamy sauces.
The trick here is to serve this on really hot plates, thanks to Delia for that tip! Normally, we’d think of serving on warm plates but pasta loses its heat quite easily so hot plates keep them warm and tasty for longer especially if you intend to fiddle about with the presentation!