Squid with pasta in tomato sauce

Well, December has finally arrived. There is lots of festive meals recipes all around, but I still prepare the everyday ones (please forgive the breakout from the common trend). Perhaps I will disappoint a little some of you, but the truth is that for the last few years I've been out of Christmas culinary fever and apart from traditional Polish gingerbread cookies, I will not have the opportunity to prepare (or even to try) any other traditional Polish Christmas delicacies this year. I have to admit that I'm quite accustomed to the fact that on Christmas Eve there are shrimps and mussels instead of herring and carp on the table, and that there is also meat dish to be served (in Poland we don't eat meat on Christmas Eve). Quite normal becomes also the after Christmas Eve dinner meeting with friends and New Year's Eve dinner with family until the midnight and then the meeting with friends. From the beginning of December I'm eating turrons, especially the Jijona one and during the Christmas holiday season I'm going to eat truchas de batata (fried dumplings stuffed with sweet potato and almonds) for breakfast or with afternoon tea. I also look forward to try Roscón de Reyes: a traditional Spanish cake-style pastry with marzipan or cream filling in the centre (which can also be chocolate flavoured) eaten the morning of Reyes - King's Day -, which celebrates the Epiphany - 6th January - when the Tree Kings came to leave presents for the Christ child. This is the day that Spanish children open their Christmas presents (writing this I'm denying what I wrote in the previous post that I strongly prefer savoury dishes!:)....well, as you can see at Christmas, everything changes:).  

Thus, today, instead of Christmas recipe I have something for before or after Christmas: delicious squid with pasta in tomato sauce and cheery tomatoes.

Ingredients (serves 2):

400 g squid rings
1 onion
1 garlic clove
200 g tomato puree or canned tomatoes
400 ml fish or vegetable broth
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon cumin
some cherry tomatoes (used 16)
100 g pasta (used pasta called fideos nº3)
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
few sprigs of thyme

Method:

Heat the oil in a saucepan. Add the onion (sliced finely) and fry until transparent. Then add the finely chopped garlic, bay leaf, smoked paprika, cumin, squid rings and thyme. Mix well and fry for 1-2 minutes. Add the tomato puree and season with salt and pepper. Mix and then add the broth, bring to a boil, cover with a lid and cook over a low heat for about 30 minutes. Add the pasta (raw) and cook until it gets soft (according to the directions on the package). At the end, add cherry tomatoes cut in half and cook for approximately 2-3 minutes.

Enjoy !!!