Strozzapreti with cuttlefish and asparagus

Serves 4

(Jason Lowe)

Down in Dorset the cuttlefish season has started, but sadly most of it gets sent out to Spain and France and very few restaurants get round to actually serving our very own native cuttlefish. I love the stuff and the other great thing about it is that it's incredibly well priced, at least for the moment. You can use any pasta really for this, but I just happened to have some strozzapreti knocking around in my cupboard, which proved perfect as it absorbs the butter and oil in its little folds.

4 servings of strozzapreti (approx 200g)
200-250g asparagus with the woody ends trimmed
160-200g cleaned weight of cuttlefish, cut into rough 1cm squares
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
60g butter
100ml extra virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2tbsp finely chopped parsley

Cook the strozzapreti in boiling salted water according to the manufacturer's cooking instructions, then drain in a colander, reserving a little of the cooking water for the sauce. Slice the asparagus as thinly as possible on the angle and cook for 30-40 seconds in boiling salted water and drain.

Meanwhile, melt the butter and half of the olive oil in a saucepan, season the cuttlefish and gently cook on a low heat with the garlic for 3-4 minutes, stirring as it's cooking, then add the pasta, the rest of the olive oil, asparagus and parsley and cook on a very low heat for a minute, adding a little of the cooking liquid.

Remove from the heat, season and leave to stand for a couple of minutes, then add a little more of the cooking water if it's too dry and serve immediately.