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For a Halloween dinner with style, nothing beats a plate of jet-black risotto. Risotto al nero di seppia is a Venetian classic, made with cuttlefish from the lagoon and colored, dramatically, by their ink. It looks gothic and tastes of the sea: rich, briny and deeply savory.

Cuttlefish have been a staple of Venetian cooking for centuries, and black risotto, along with spaghetti in the same sauce, is a fixture in the city’s bacari and trattorias. In the early morning at the Rialto fish market, you can see the cuttlefish laid out, inky and gleaming, beside the Grand Canal.

Eat it in Venice

Visit the Rialto market early, before the crowds, then order black risotto for lunch in a trattoria in Cannaregio or Castello. Read our mistakes to avoid in Venice before you go, and for the rest of northern Italy, see our stay at Passalacqua on Lake Como.

Buying the ink

Cuttlefish or squid ink is sold in small jars or sachets at fishmongers and Italian groceries. Whole cleaned squid works if you cannot find cuttlefish. Two sachets give a deep, even black.

Ingredients

Serves 4.

• 1 lb (450 g) cleaned cuttlefish or squid, bodies sliced into strips
• 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 shallot and 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 1/2 cups (300 g) Carnaroli or Vialone Nano rice
• 3/4 cup (180 ml) dry white wine
• 5 to 6 cups (1.2 to 1.4 liters) hot fish or light vegetable stock
• 2 sachets (8 g total) cuttlefish or squid ink
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter
• Chopped parsley and lemon zest, to serve
• Salt and black pepper

Method

1. Cook the cuttlefish. Warm the oil in a wide pan and soften the shallot and garlic. Add the cuttlefish and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Lift out half to use as a garnish.
2. Toast the rice. Add the rice and stir for 2 minutes until the grains are translucent at the edges. Pour in the wine and let it evaporate.
3. Add the stock. Add the hot stock a ladle at a time, stirring often and waiting until each addition is almost absorbed, for about 15 minutes.
4. Add the ink. Stir the ink into a ladle of stock and add it to the rice. Continue cooking until the rice is creamy and just tender, 3 to 5 minutes more.
5. Finish. Off the heat, stir in the butter, season and rest for a minute. The risotto should flow gently on the plate.

How to serve it

On warm plates, topped with the reserved cuttlefish, a little parsley and lemon zest. No cheese: Venetians traditionally leave it out of seafood risotto.

What to pour

A crisp Soave Classico or a Friulano from Friuli. For the occasion, a glass of Prosecco Superiore from the hills of Valdobbiadene.

Make a menu of it

For a Halloween dinner party, start with our chestnut soup and finish with caramel apples. More Halloween recipes are At the Table.

Photo: Micaela & Massimo, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0