June 17th--Squid, Asparagus and Red Onion over Citrus Fettuccine in Citrus Cream Sauce

Dave: Tonight's recipe is one we've gone to several times in one form or another over the years. Take a protein (tofu or seafood usually) and toss it with noodles and a robust sauce. We've made many variants, but the basic recipe is always a winner.

Tonight we decided to go with squid over citrus fettuccine.

Lauren: Silken tofu takes almost any flavor so readily that it takes very little convincing to taste like anything else. This definitely works with citrus in the extreme.

We also made the fettuccine from scratch, not so much because we're trying to impress you all (okay, maybe a little) but because...well...remember that basic Play-Doh set with the different filters you can squeeze dough through? The Kitchen Aid Pasta attachment is sort of the grown-up version of that.

Dave: Also they discontinued the squid ink pasta we were going to use in the recipe (Al Dente brand) so we decided to go with something with a little more punch than basic egg noodles.

I decided to pop some citrus flavor into the noodles with a light lemon-lime mixture. I think it may have added to the consistency problem you'll see in the video below, but the flavor was excellent. In the future I might add zest to noodles instead of juice to add some more color and flavor (plus not ruin up the consistency of the dough) but this is how you learn.

Lauren: Yeah, this meal was all about the "not-so-successes" part of the blog...I dropped the tofu in the sink and had to fish it out. Plus, I started cooking the asparagus and onions, and then forgot about them.

Dave: But it all turned out. We ate, we enjoyed ourselves and we lived to blog about it. We use blended tofu for almost all cream sauces instead of using heavy cream. I think we discovered the substitution when we were making vodka sauce and weren't too keen on the fat content of the cream.

Lauren: We've mentioned this sauce twice now...we're such recipe teases. Seriously, though, subbing it for the cream gives you all the creaminess without the heaviness.

Dave: I guess the only other big innovation on this recipe was marinading the squid in rum and citrus before cooking. I think the flavor of dark rum worked really well with the citrus... we may have to make a growler of grog in the near future!

Lauren: YAR!

Squid, Asparagus and Red Onion over Citrus Fettuccine in Citrus Cream Sauce Recipe

1 Lb Squid

1/2 Cup Dark Rum (we used "THE KRAKEN" which is also really good for cocktails or sipping)

1 Bunch Asparagus, cut into approx. 1" pieces

1/2 Small Red Onion, cut in half-rings

Juice of 1/2 Lemon

Juice of 1/2 Lime

Noodles:

3 1/2 Cups All Purpose Flour, Sifted

4 Eggs

1 Tsp Water

1 Tsp Salt

1 Tsp Vegetable Oil

Sauce:

12.5 oz Silken Tofu, Soft

1 Tbsp rice milk

Salt and pepper to taste

Juice of 1/2 Lemon

Juice of 1/2 Lime

1 Tsp hot chili powder

1/2 Tsp lemon peel

1 Tbsp capers

Procedure:

Squid

Rinse squid well. Cut squid into thin rings with a santoku knife. If your squid includes tentacles, cut them down to small sections. Put all of the squid into a bowl and marinade with lemon juice, lime juice and rum.

Place the squid in the refrigerator while you work on the pasta.

Pasta:

Combine all pasta ingredients in the bowl of a KitchenAid stand mixer. Put the "beating blade" attachment on the mixer and process at setting 2 for 30 seconds. Change the "dough hook" for the beating blade and process for 2 minutes at setting 2. Remove the dough and work it into a smooth ball with your hands. Divide the dough ball into 4 even sections. Follow the flattening and cutting instructions from Kitchenaid. You'll only need half of your noodles, so you can set the other two dough balls aside for another day or cut them all and freeze half.

Back to Squid:

Remove the squid from the refrigerator and cook in a saucepan over high heat until all squid rings become uniformly white and somewhat curled in on themselves.

Drain the squid and set aside.

In a high-walled sautee pan, heat 1 Tbsp oilve oil; add onion and cook until slightly soft. Add asparagus with a squeeze of lemon and lime juice. Cook on medium heat until the onion is tender and the asparagus is a uniform dark green.

Pasta:

In a large saucepan bring 8 Cups water to a rolling boil. Add 1/2 of the pasta to the water and remove when pasta is al dente.

Sauce:

Drain and blot tofu; place in blender and blend until smooth. In a medium saucepan, whisk tofu and rice milk together with a thickening whisk on medium-low heat. Add lemon and lime juice, chili powder, lemon peel, and salt and pepper while whisking. (Note: If sauce appears too thick, add more milk; if too thin, allow milk to cook off.) Add capers and whisk until sauce begins to bubble. Remove from heat and set aside.

FINISH HIM!

Add squid to pasta; toss with sauce. With a slotted spoon, transfer onions and asparagus to pasta.

Optional: When plating, sprinkle an extra spoonful or so of capers to the top of each serving.

We'll be out of town from 6/18-6/20 for the WARRIOR DASH in Joliet.

We'll return to regular posting on 6/21. Have a great weekend!!