Spaghetti with Squid, Shrimp and Bottarga

Method

1. Clean the shrimp: remove the carapace, heads, and intestines. Reserve the heads and carapace. For larger shrimp, leave the carapace on and remove the intestine using a toothpick.
2. Boil the shrimp heads and carapace in salted water for 15 minutes to make a flavored water. Discard solids after boiling.
3. Clean the squid: remove the cartilage, ink sac, skin, and beak. Cut into pieces if large.
4. Prepare the battuto: finely chop garlic, chili, capers, anchovies, and olives (if using).
5. In a pan, heat olive oil with torn basil leaves over low heat. Increase heat to high, add the squid, and cook for 1-1.5 minutes until they lose transparency and release liquids. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer squid and liquids to a plate.
6. In the same pan, add olive oil and the battuto along with garlic cloves over low heat until garlic is golden. Turn heat to high, add shrimp, and cook for about 2 minutes until they curl and lose transparency. Add a ladle of the flavored water, bring to a boil, then remove the shrimp and set aside, reserving the liquid in the pan.
7. Cook the spaghetti in the remaining flavored water until half-cooked (about halfway through the package time).
8. To the pan with the shrimp liquid, add double-concentrated tomato paste and the reserved squid liquid. Bring to a boil. Transfer the half-cooked spaghetti to the pan and finish cooking, adding pasta cooking water as needed to reach the desired creaminess.
9. When the pasta is almost done, add the cooked squid and shrimp back to the pan. Toss to combine and heat through.
10. Turn off the heat. Add chopped parsley, bottarga (if using), black pepper, and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Mix well.
11. Plate and garnish with hand-torn basil leaves.