Recipe Fusilli al cedro e calamari: pair it with a Sicilian wine

Fusilli al cedro e calamari with squid sauce paired with a Sicilian rosé

Calabria is a region often overlooked, underestimated, and underappreciated.
The economy is certainly not thriving and it is not a well-connected region, but it offers stunning glimpses of landscapes from the Sila and its natural springs all the way to the deep blue sea.
A region full of wonderful and typical culinary products, which are also often overshadowed, especially by those from regions like Campania and Puglia.
Peperoncino, cipolla di Tropea, tuna, 'Nduja, and above all the cedro.
Today we will show you a recipe using both the cipolla and the cedro: Fusilli aromatizzati al cedro with squid sauce.
It is important to source the best raw ingredients to guarantee an exceptional dish, but often it is the ingredients themselves that spark the ideas for cooking.
I found myself in Marcellina, a hamlet of Scalea, to stock up on products from the pasta shop of Vera Pignataro, which I have already told you about in this fusilli recipe; I can't help it — whenever I pass through here I have to buy this pasta, which I can only eat here. While picking up the usual things, I was struck by a new product: fusilli al cedro; without even thinking about how to cook them, I decided to buy them. When would I ever come across a product like this again?

I chose to try them with calamari and the experiment was a success.

Recipe for Fusilli aromatizzati al cedro con salsa ai calamari — serves 4:
- 1 squid of approximately 400 g;
- 1 cipolla di Tropea;
- 100 g purple eggplant;
- 200 g cherry tomatoes;
- parsley, salt, and pepper to taste.

Sauté the coarsely chopped cipolla in a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and let it soften; add the cleaned and chopped calamaro. Brown it and add the cherry tomatoes. Let it cook. In a separate pan, sauté the diced eggplant in olive oil and once browned, add it to the squid sauce. Add chopped parsley. Cook the fusilli, drain them, and toss with the sauce. Let everything absorb the flavors and add black pepper (to taste).
So, what shall we drink?
Pairing a wine with this dish is no simple task — cedro, eggplant, and calamaro; also because this is the first time I've tried cooking it (and eating it).
Rosa Caolino is a very versatile Sicilian rosé wine; I chose it for its significant minerality and salinity combined with the ideal acidity for this mollusk-based dish, which also adapts well to the sweet flavor of the eggplant and the freshness and aromatic quality of the cedro.
Calabrian ingredients and Sicilian wine: who needs a bridge across the strait!