Seppie al Nero alla Veneziana (Venetian-Style Cuttlefish in Ink)

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Seppie al Nero alla Veneziana is a glorious, dramatic, and scrumptious dish of cuttlefish (a cousin of squid) stewed in its own ink. It is one of my favorite Venetian dishes. The black ink with its taste of the sea, combined with a few aromatics, creates a magical sauce that is both simple and luscious at the same time. Traditionally, it is served on a bed of polenta as a main course or on spaghetti as a primo. Either way, it is heavenly and special. Happily, I was taught how to prepare it recently by a Venetian grandmother. I can now create this dish in my own home and if you can get your hands on fresh cuttlefish, so can you!

Venice… La Serenissima

My brother-in-law has had an apartment in Venice for over two years now and we visit him as often as we can. Who wouldn’t take advantage of free lodging in a place like Venice?! Besides eating Venetian-style nibbles called cicchetti with local wine, one of the things I look forward to most on our trips is a delectable bowl of Spaghetti al Nero. It’s simply delicious. My daughter adores it too. (I have a collection of adorable pictures of her with an ink-blackened mouth and teeth! I treasure them…)

Chris, my B-I-L, lives in the Castello area of the city. Although it is only a 10-minute walk from St. Mark’s Square, it is a highly residential, working-class area. I love it. Daniela, a Venetian DOC (DOC meaning a true native) is from the area. She is the owner of a used goods store near his apartment and over time, he has struck up a friendly relationship with her and her family.

My nonna for the day

It has been a dream of his for a long time to get us together in the kitchen. A few weeks ago, he took it upon himself to set up a day for us on our most recent visit. (It was our first time out of Bologna after our very strict quarantine was over. The city was quiet and empty of tourists. A silver lining of this wretched virus.)

When asked what Venetian dish I wanted to learn, I asked if Daniela could teach me how to make Seppie al Nero. I have quite a few Venetian dishes in my culinary repertoire but this one was more intimidating for me to learn because I hadn’t the foggiest notion how to deal with the ink. I knew neither how to extract it from the cuttlefish while cleaning, nor how to work with it. Thankfully, she said yes and proceeded to teach me how to make one of the best versions of the dish I’ve ever had. Yippee!

Get to know your fishmonger

We started our day at her local fish stall. She had the fishmonger clean the cuttlefish for us and I took a quick video of him cleaning the seppie here. Then, Daniela and I met later in the day at her apartment. She proceeded to teach me how she makes Seppie al Nero and also how she prepares her polenta. (Chain smoking all the while!) She graciously gave me her time and knowledge and has allowed me to share the recipe with you.

On a side note, the fishmonger told me that cuttlefish bones used to be utilized as molds for making rings (jewelry)! How cool is that? My husband mentioned another use for cuttlefish bones which is that parakeets nibble on them to sharpen their beaks! Apparently they sell them at pet shops! Who knew?!

Seppie al Nero alla Veneziana

After you have cleaned the cuttlefish thoroughly and retrieved the ink sacs, Seppie al Nero (or Seppie in Nero or Seppie col Nero) is a rather simple dish. Once you get that messy work done, there is not much to it. Most versions of the dish simply contain extra virgin olive oil, garlic, white wine, and the cuttlefish with, perhaps, some parsley. My favorite versions of the dish also contain a tiny hint of tomato as Daniela’s recipe does. According to the owner of a restaurant that we like a lot in Venice, there should be just a slight touch of tomato in the dish that will tint the oil with a red hue on your plate.

Some recipes also include onion. Daniela’s does, and she insists it must be white onion, no exceptions! Other recipes include celery and bay leaf. Her version does not.

Home cooking… La Cucina Casalinga

My experience with Daniela was interesting for several reasons. I think that many people like me who read passionately about Italian food have a fantasy version of Italian cooks in their heads, that Italians only use the best of everything, that they make or grow everything themselves, that everything is organic, etc. In my experience, these things can be very true but I’ve also seen shocking moments of practicality. I’ve seen family members who are complete sticklers for quality ingredients whip out the occasional industrial product. Daniela did the same. It’s kind of confusing…

Both she and the fishmonger wouldn’t even discuss pre-packaged squid ink for this dish, but as Daniela cooked she used some surprising, unpretentious ingredients and cooking methods. It just goes to show that Italian cooks need to be practical and use convenience products every now and then like everybody else. Sometimes you just need to get dinner on the table! To that end, she cooked the recipe in a pressure cooker, which I was thrilled about. I will leave instructions for the pressure cooker in the recipe.

Surprising and secret ingredients

The first surprising ingredient that struck me was boxed white wine from the supermarket! Next, she used frozen, chopped onions (white, of course!) that come from the freezer section. However, the big secret ingredient in both her polenta and Seppie al Nero was a bouillon cube! That was a shocker!

Daniela also used instant polenta, which I thought no self-respecting Venetian would. Thank goodness! I don’t relish the thought of stirring stone-ground polenta for 45 minutes. I know it’s good and all but find I don’t have the patience these days… This was a lot easier and it was wonderful all the same. Most Venetian recipes use white polenta but Daniela prefers yellow. Tradition be damned.

Another Daniela touch was to add butter at the end of the cooking in both her cuttlefish and polenta. I’ve never seen other versions of Seppie al Nero with either butter or bouillon cube. Cool! I treasure her sharing her secrets with me. I will leave the option to use these less traditional ingredients up to you. When testing the recipe, I did and was happy with the results.

Fat is flavor…

Daniela used a metric ton of extra virgin olive oil in the polenta and the Seppie al Nero. That, combined with the butter, could be a major reason why it was all so darned good… I think I will make it that fat heavy for special occasions, and cut back a bit to be able to enjoy the dish more frequently! She did say that the use of oil in her polenta helped to prevent lumps…

The hard part

In order to clean the cuttlefish, I used the method given to me by the fishmonger. Work in the sink and have a large bowl of cold water in front of you. You can even keep cold water running on low into the bowl as you work to keep the water clean. In addition, wear an apron, remove bulky rings, use rubber gloves, and wear clothes that you don’t care about!

Make sure that your cuttlefish is fresh and not previously frozen. I was told that the ink becomes grainy when frozen. The sac should be soft and smooth. Daniela used all of the ink sacs. Although some cooks don’t use as much, I prefer it her way – black as coal!

For those of you who have a fishmonger that will clean cuttlefish for you, you can have them do the dirty work for you. If you’re on you’re own for this, here’s how it’s done:

How to clean cuttlefish

• First, feel for the large, oval the bone inside the body and push it up from the bottom of the cuttlefish towards the head/tentacles, (avoiding the tip as it’s pointy), and remove. It should pop out rather easily.
• Next, remove the skin, starting from the area where the bone was. (You can get your fingers between the skin and flesh more readily from that part.) Remove all of the skin and fins. If you find you’re struggling with this step, go back to it after you’ve removed the ink sac which is the most important part!
• Make a long slit down the side lengthwise in the same area where the bone emerged. (The bone has created most of the opening already.) You may use a knife but I tore delicately with my hands.
• Carefully remove all of the innards from the body pulling firmly and gently from the tentacles and take care not to break the ink sac (or burst the eyes). Everything should come out in one piece.
• The iridescent ink sac will be at the bottom. It has a long thin tube at the top and a heart-like shape at the bottom. Pull it away gently from the other guts, holding on to the long thin part at the top. Place all of the cleaned ink sacs in a glass. You can keep them moist with a damp paper towel placed delicately on top.
• Cut the tentacles off just above the eyes with kitchen shears, and discard the guts and eyes. (The fishmonger popped out the eyes and beak with little waste. I was not able to replicate this feat, and sacrificed a little of the flesh to avoid the mess of bursting the eyeballs. Yuck!!) At the base of the tentacles, you will find the beak. Remove it and proceed with the rest of the cuttlefish.
• Lastly, wash the prepped tentacles and bodies thoroughly in cold water. Now they are ready for use.

The polenta

Daniela used no measurements whatsoever when she prepared her polenta. She eyeballed everything. I did the same and was pleased with the lack of fussiness. You can use the measurements on your polenta package as a guide for the amount of water to start with but you will use less polenta than indicated more likely than not, as Venetian polenta is very soft and not overly thick. It should be about the thickness of a pancake batter after you have slowly streamed in the cornmeal and returned it to a boil. Don’t let it get much thicker than that after boiling and stirring for 5-10 minutes.

The recipe yield

This recipe has a high yield. You will probably be able to feed 6 as a main course over polenta. Or, you may serve 3-4 as a main course with polenta for dinner with leftovers to prepare Spaghetti al Nero the next day. (My favorite way to eat the dish!)

In order to prepare Spaghetti al Nero, cut the cuttlefish pieces with scissors into small bits. Boil your spaghetti in salted water until very al dente and finish the cooking in the sauce over a low flame for a couple of minutes to combine the flavors, stirring with tongs constantly to coat the spaghetti with the luscious black ink sauce. If your sauce is too thick, add some pasta water to loosen. It should be fluid and not dry. Garnish with chopped parsley.

Final Notes

I wanted to mention that I understand that many of you will not have access to fresh cuttlefish but wanted to share my story and recipe anyway. There are many recipes for this dish in English but so many are modified, using packets of squid ink. I wanted to post a record of a traditional recipe in English. Most Venetian cooks and other cooks from other parts of Italy that use cuttlefish ink in this manner think that the dish is not worth making without fresh ink. The packets, in their opinion, should be used for other uses such as pasta making.

If you want to check out a recipe for this dish using packaged squid ink, check out this wonderful post from Memorie di Angelina, one of my favorite blogs on Italian cuisine.

If you are interested in other Venetian stories and recipes, look at my articles about Risi e Bisi here and here. In addition, I have two posts about Venetian cicchetti. You will find part 1 here, and part 2 here.

Seppie al Nero alla Veneziana (Venetian-Style Cuttlefish in Ink)

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Serves: 6

Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Rating: 5.0/5

( 4 voted )

Ingredients

• For the cuttlefish:
• 2 kg (4.4 lbs) fresh, uncleaned cuttlefish (cleaned = 1 kg (2.2 lbs) of cuttlefish)
• extra virgin olive oil, to taste
• 1 large clove garlic, minced
• 1 small white onion, minced (about 1/4 cup)
• 1-1 1/2 cups dry white wine
• 1 bouillon cube, optional
• freshly cracked black pepper, to taste, optional
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste, (preferably from a tube, or 1-2 tablespoons tomato puree)
• 2-3 tablespoons unsalted butter, optional
• sea salt, to taste
• 1-2 tablespoons flat-leaf parsley, chopped, for garnish
• For the polenta:
• Instant polenta, yellow or white (1 box should feed 4-6 people)
• 2-4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 bouillon cube, optional
• sea salt, to taste
• 2-3 tablespoons unsalted butter, optional

Instructions

1. First, clean the cuttlefish, (see detailed instructions in the post above), gently removing the ink sacs and placing them in a glass. Cover them lightly with a damp paper to towel to keep them from drying out. Once thoroughly cleaned, cut the cuttlefish into 1 1/2-2-inch pieces. Halve the tentacles or cut them into quarters if large. Set aside.
2. Heat a pot or pressure cooker, over medium-low heat. Add a generous layer of extra virgin olive oil, or to taste (Daniela had 1/4-inch of oil!) Add the onion and garlic and cook gently until translucent, 2-3 minutes. Do not let them brown.
3. Next, add the cuttlefish and coat with the onion and garlic mixture. Stir until the cuttlefish starts becoming translucent, about 3-4 minutes. Add the ink sacs to the pot, gently and carefully smashing them with the back of a spoon first. Use some of the wine to rinse out the glass to get every last drop of ink in there! 
4. Add 1 cup of the wine and the bouillon cube, if using, the tomato paste, and freshly cracked black pepper to taste. (Add salt if not using the bouillon cube.) Bring it to a simmer. Add the other 1/2 cup of wine if you think the cuttlefish needs to be covered with more liquid. Simmer for a few minutes.
5. If using a pressure cooker, cover, and cook under pressure for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat. Once the pressure comes down, test a piece of cuttlefish for doneness with a fork. If it goes in easily and feels tender, it's done. (Taste it too!) You can finish the cuttlefish without repressurizing if it's almost done, or return to pressure for another five minutes if it has a long way to go. If you do not have a pressure cooker, cook until tender over a low simmer in a regular pot with the cover ajar. How long it will take depends on the size and age of the cuttlefish. It could take anywhere from 35-50 minutes (or longer). Check periodically for doneness, adding water if necessary if it looks like it's drying out. You want plenty of sauce for your polenta and/or pasta.
6. Whichever method you use, check your sauce consistency once your cuttlefish is tender. You should have a luscious, dense sauce that coats the cuttlefish well. If it doesn't cling and coat the fish well, you may need to reduce it down for 5-10 minutes. If you fear overcooking your cuttlefish while you reduce the sauce, take it out with a skimmer and reduce the sauce on its own to have full control over the consistency of the fish. 
7. Taste for seasoning and add the butter at this time, if using. Serve over polenta, garnished with the parsley. (See my blog post for instructions on how to serve on spaghetti instead.)
8. For the polenta, bring the desired quantity of water to a boil, such as 1-1 1/2 liters/quarts of water for 4 people and add 2-4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil and if using, the bouillon cube. Check for salt.
9. Add the polenta slowly in a thin stream while whisking. This will help prevent lumps. Add cornmeal until you have reached the consistency of heavy cream or a pancake batter. At that point, stop adding polenta and once all lumps have been worked out, switch to a wooden spoon and stir, cooking at a simmer for 5-10 minutes, or until the corn tastes cooked and you have a beautiful, creamy, soft polenta. Add butter if using and serve immediately topped with your cuttlefish and sauce. Garnish with parsley.