Spaghetti al Nero di Seppia con Bottarga di Muggine

Ingredients

• 400 g spaghetti
• For the ink sauce
• 4 fresh cuttlefish ink sacs, sacs kept whole until use; jarred squid ink only as a last resort
• 120 ml dry white wine
• 3 garlic cloves, finely sliced
• 60 ml extra-virgin olive oil, Sardinian, plus extra raw for finishing
• 15 g flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
• At service
• 60 g bottarga di muggine, grey mullet only; grated on a fine Microplane to a dusty powder

Method

1. 1
   Pierce the cuttlefish ink sacs over a small bowl and squeeze out all the ink. Add the white wine and stir until the ink is fully dissolved into a uniform dark liquid, so that any undispersed clots of ink do not scorch or turn bitter when they hit the hot oil. The liquid should be deep violet-black with no solid clots remaining.
2. 2
   Warm the olive oil and sliced garlic together in a wide pan over a medium-low flame, so that the oil slowly draws out the garlic's sweetness rather than its sharpness. Cook without colouring until the garlic softens and the oil is fragrant — the garlic must not brown, or it will compete with the ink.
3. 3
   Pour the ink-and-wine mixture into the garlic oil — the pan will hiss briefly — then stir and reduce over a moderate flame until the alcohol smell has gone and the sauce has thickened slightly to coat a spoon in a glossy, dark film. The sauce must be dark and deeply flavoured but not opaque-black and bitter — excess ink cannot be corrected at this stage.
4. 4
   Cook the spaghetti in well-salted boiling water until just short of al dente, so that it finishes cooking inside the ink sauce and takes on its colour and flavour all the way through. Reserve a ladleful of pasta water, then drain and transfer the pasta directly into the ink sauce, tossing over the flame and adding pasta water as needed until every strand is evenly coated and the sauce clings without pooling — the pasta should be glossy and uniformly black.
5. 5
   Remove from the heat before adding the chopped parsley and a generous pour of raw extra-virgin olive oil, so that neither the parsley's brightness nor the oil's fruitiness is cooked away. Toss once more off the heat until the oil gives the pasta a visible lustre.
6. 6
   Plate immediately. Grate the cold bottarga di muggine over each portion on a fine Microplane — so finely that it falls as dusty orange-gold snow over the black pasta — keeping the bottarga away from any heat so that its delicate salinity and fragrance are not cooked off. The bottarga must never touch the hot pan; serve it cold, directly at table.