What makes you feel good in the kitchen?

Pasta aglio, olio, e peperoncino with squid and crispy artichokes

How do we achieve well-being in the kitchen? What are those rituals, those recipes, that put us in touch with our most authentic selves, that nourish us and connect us with the season?

These are some of the questions Le Creuset Italia is asking in its #FeelGoodFood campaign, which was created with the idea of making a positive contribution to everyday well-being, thanks to the therapeutic value of cooking.

What makes you feel good in the kitchen?

Let me know in the comments.

I have a list of recipes - not very long, but populated with classics and dishes that are part of my cooking repertoire -, which help me find this balance, fragile and always evolving.

They are lively recipes, based on gestures that I know by heart, that take me back to happy moments, to memories of carefree laughter. For me, pasta aglio, olio, e pepperoncino – pasta with extra virgin olive oil, garlic, and chilli pepper - in its simplicity and straightforwardness, is one of these. The mere mention of it brings back memories of impromptu dinners with friends, where a shared bowl of pasta has the best taste in the world.

For this occasion, I dressed pasta aglio, olio, e pepperoncino with a spring attire.

First, I sliced the artichokes finely, carefully, then tossed them in flour, and finally fried them in the #bamboogreen enamelled cast iron pan until they were crisp and golden. Then, along with the artichokes, I added squid cooked in an aromatic broth, lemon zest, and bottarga. Done, easy-peasy and delicious, ready to create happy memories.

Since we’re constantly fighting with the Instagram algorithm, let’s see if the newsletter superpowers can do the magic: it would be very helpful for us if you could head to the post, like it, and share it with your friends that love a simple Italian pasta!

Pasta aglio, olio, e peperoncino with squid and crispy artichokes

If you need to print this recipe to keep it in your kitchen and use for scribbling down your notes, you find the printable PDF below and you can print just odd pages to avoid photos and save ink.

Pasta Squid And Artichokes

1.41MB ∙ PDF file

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Serves 4

• 320 g short dry pasta

• Zest of 1 organic lemon

• ½ Spring onion

• 800 g squid

• 2 artichokes

• 2 tablespoons flour

• 1 clove garlic

• Extra virgin olive oil

• Chilli pepper flakes

• Salt

• Freshly ground black pepper

• Bottarga

To clean the squid, carefully separate the heads from the tentacles and remove the beak and the guts. Wash the squid and remove the outer membrane, then dice the bodies and chop the tentacles.

Bring the water to the boil in a saucepan with the spring onion and a few strips of lemon zest. When the water boils, throw the squid into the pot with the tentacles, cover and bring back to the boil.

Cook the squid in the boiling water for at least 15 minutes, or until they are soft enough to be easily cut with a knife. Let them cool down in the water, then remove them, thinly slice the sacs and leave the tentacles whole, then place in a bowl. Don’t throw away the water.

Finely chop the parsley and add it to the squid, then season immediately with extra virgin olive oil and salt.

Clean the artichokes, slice them finely, sprinkle them with two tablespoons of flour, and fry them in a few tablespoons of olive oil until golden brown. Remove them from the pan and place them on a plate lined with kitchen paper.

Bring the squid water back to the boil, and cook the pasta.

While the pasta is cooking, wipe out the frying pan with kitchen paper, pour in some extra virgin olive oil and add a clove of crushed garlic and some chilli pepper. Heat the olive oil until the garlic is fragrant, then turn off the heat.

Drain the pasta al dente and add it to the pan, then toss it briefly in the oil.

Add the squid, the fried artichokes, grated bottarga, and lemon zest, then serve immediately.

Happy Easter!

- Giulia and Tommaso