Black Risotto – Croatia

This Croatian dish is highly spectacular and very uncommon. As black colored food is very rare in nature, this adds a curious idea to try it. It surely looks strange, but it definitely has an exquisite flavour which will delight your taste buds.

  • 1 kg (2 lb) squid or calamari or cuttlefish
  • 2-3 large onions, chopped
  • 1/3 cup (80 ml) olive oil
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • fresh parsley, chopped
  • 1/4 cup (60 ml) white wine
  • 400 g (0.9 lb; about 2 cups) risotto rice (like Arborio)
  • 4 g (about 1 tsp) squid ink, or to taste
  • 2 cups fish stock or vegetable stock or hot water
  • salt, black pepper
  • a knob of butter
  1. Black Risotto cooking directions: Clean the squid or calamari (reserve ink sac). Cut them into stripes.
  2. Saute onion in the oil until translucent. Add the squid or calamari and cook for 15 minutes. Add garlic, parsley, salt (be careful with the salt because stock is salty), wine, pepper and enough water to cover calamari and cook until squid or calamari are soft (squid will take longer time to cook then calamari).
  3. Add the rice, the ink from the ink sac and continue cooking on low to medium heat. Add hot stock, ladle by ladle, stirring until absorbed. Adjust seasonings.
  4. Remove Black Risotto from heat when rice is cooked al dente. Stir in a knob of butter. Cover and let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

The Risotto is black because this recipe calls for squid ink that is then added to the rice.

This recipe looks super delicious!

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