Spaghetti with Cuttlefish

Recipe Overview

This dish captures the soul of the sea with an old-world Italian sensibility. Cuttlefish is slowly braised until tender with onion, garlic, tomato, white wine, and bay leaves, while the reserved ink becomes a glossy finishing sauce that adds depth, minerality, salinity, and visual drama. The spaghetti is cooked al dente and finished simply so the braised seafood and nero di seppia remain the focus of the plate.

Nero di Seppia — Ingredient System Connection

The reserved cuttlefish ink is connected to the Tuscany Cuisine Squid Ink / Nero di Seppia Culinary Foundation. The active platform identity supplies the shared ink icon, inventory key, and educational destination while the visible recipe continues to identify the ingredient accurately as cuttlefish ink.

Ingredients

• Dry Spaghetti — 450 g — dry spaghetti spaghetti
• Cuttlefish / Seppia — 450 g — cleaned; ink sac reserved SEA-CUTTLEFISH-SEPIA-001
• Yellow Onion — 150 g — finely chopped yellow_onion
• Garlic — 10 g — minced TC-VEG-GARLIC-001
• Olive Oil — 45 ml — for the cuttlefish braise olive_oil
• Sea Salt — to taste — to taste SPICE-SALT-0001
• Black Pepper — to taste — freshly cracked, to taste SPICE-PEPPERCORN-BLACK
• Dry White Wine — 480 ml — for deglazing and reduction white_wine
• Vine-Ripe Tomatoes — 450 g — chopped; tomato-family icon used vine_ripe_tomatoes
• Bay Leaves — 2 leaves — fresh; remove before service HERB-BAY-LAUREL
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil — 30 ml — for finishing the spaghetti OIL-0001
• Shallot — 80 g — finely sliced for the ink sauce VEG-SHALLOT-001
• Cuttlefish Ink / Nero di Seppia — 1 portion — strained from the reserved cuttlefish ink sac; mapped to active Squid Ink platform identity TC-SEAFOOD-SQUID-INK-001
• Potable Water — 120 ml — for the ink sauce WATER-POTABLE-001

Preparation

1. Clean the cuttlefish carefully, reserving the ink sac. Rinse and pat dry, then slice the cuttlefish into fine julienne strips.
2. Warm the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the garlic and onion and cook gently until soft and fragrant, without browning.
3. Add the cuttlefish, season lightly with sea salt and black pepper, and cook until the natural liquid reduces and evaporates.
4. Stir in the chopped tomatoes and bay leaves. Simmer briefly, then deglaze with the white wine and reduce by about half.
5. Cover and simmer very gently for about 1 hour. Uncover and continue cooking for about 40 minutes more, until the cuttlefish is tender and the sauce is rich and concentrated. Adjust seasoning as needed.
6. For the ink sauce, saute the shallots in a little olive oil until soft. Add the strained cuttlefish ink and the water. Simmer gently, blend, pass through a fine sieve, then return to low heat and reduce until glossy and lightly thickened.
7. Cook the spaghetti in plenty of salted boiling water until al dente. Reserve a small amount of cooking water, then drain.
8. Toss the spaghetti with the extra-virgin olive oil and a splash of pasta water just to coat.
9. To plate, spread a spoonful of warm ink sauce on each plate. Spoon the tomato-cuttlefish mixture over it, then top with a nest of spaghetti. Serve immediately.

Nutrition (per serving, estimate)

Calories	470
Protein	29 g
Carbohydrates	48 g
Fat	16 g
Fiber	3 g
Cholesterol	Not calculated
Sodium	560 mg