Squid is one of the more unique ingredients that you can cook with. I often find that it’s one of those very divisive forms of food – either you love it or you hate it. I know many people that dislike it because it seems ‘weird’, maybe because of the way it looks or because it can sometimes have a rubbery consistency of not cooked well. Indeed, squid needs to be cooked properly and served with other ingredients and spices for it to be appetising. The worst thing is for squid to be overcooked – it then forms an extremely rubbery consistency that makes it difficult to bite through. If eaten on its own, let’s admit it, it’s pretty bland. However, not much is needed to lift it to something delicious. I’m sure many of us will recall wonderful days during our summer childhood having crumbed calamari with lemon squeezed over the top of it, and dipping it into tartar sauce. That’s certainly how I fell in love with squid. I absolutely loved calamari. The only thing that I found annoying was sometimes the chefs would forget to cut the squid properly, and as such there would be a tight ‘elastic band’ of squid that I nearly choked on innumerable times!
Another form of squid that I love is found in Chinese cooking – salt & pepper squid. Whenever I go to yum cha with friends, there has to be salt & pepper squid. Once again, the flavours aren’t extravagant, but the seasoning and the chilli really lift the squid to a different dimension. The last time I went for yum cha at the Marigold in Sydney, I found my arm constantly reaching out to the salt & pepper squid plate so much that I’m quite confident I had at least three-quarters of it! So I knew that my mouth and my heart were telling me that I needed to cook a squid dish, and I had previously been drawn to this recipe, from Tobie Puttock, because of the idea of cooking the squid whole and stuffing them with wonderfully fresh and delicious ingredients, not to mention the added spiciness that I love from chillies in a dish. I’ve recently cooked quite a few of Tobie Puttock’s recipes, including my first gnocchi dish ever, and I’ve become a very big fan. His recipes display great modern Italian food and provide twists that traditional recipes often lack.
I recall seeing on a television cooking show the process of chopping up a whole squid, with the ink sac attached, and nine times out of ten the ink sac would puncture and black ink would gush all over the squid. So, I decided that I would actually just buy the squid tubes themselves, and I was pleasantly surprised at the price. The first process of the recipe is to make the breadcrumbs. The old me would have used pre-packaged breadcrumbs, but now I cringe at that thought. When I combined all of the ingredients and the ciabatta and put them in the oven, the smell was amazing! It was nearly impossible to resist eating some of the bread when it came out of the oven. As I’ve mentioned before, I often marvel at how people, such as myself, can overcome their dislike for certain foods. I majorly hated onion when I was young, to the point where I would pick out the smallest bits of onion from the spaghetti Bolognese for around ten minutes before I would start eating. If I was really sick and I knew throwing up would do me good, all I had to do was think about French Onion soup (that’s a nice passage for a cooking blog isn’t it!). Now I love the stuff. In the case of this recipe, it’s anchovies. I now love them, and they provide beautiful saltiness and oiliness to the dressing. One thing I’m still a bit tentative about is ricotta. I recall cooking a pasta dish with ricotta around eight years ago that I disliked quite intensely, but now I just find it rather bland and unappealing. I’m sure it added flavour to this recipe, but I don’t think I’ll ever be a great fan. I think one of the reasons why this recipe is so good is that, while it looks complicated, it’s actually quite simple. There are only three elements – the stuffing, the dressing and the squid. When combined, it’s a taste explosion. The squid was so tender – absolutely no hint of any rubber! I think this dish would convert many people that are a bit equivocal regarding squid.
Recipe (serves 4):
500g squid tubes, with tentacles
4 tbs ricotta
1 tbs marjoram, roughly chopped
Finely grated zest & juice of 1 lemon
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tbs freshly grated parmesan cheese
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Extra virgin olive oil for flavour & dressing
Olive oil for greasing
3 anchovy fillets, roughly chopped
2 fresh red chillies, finely chopped
1 tbs flat-leaf parsley, chopped
A small handful of feathery fennel tops or celery leaves
Breadcrumbs
1 small loaf ciabatta bread
1 tbs rosemary leaves, finely chopped
1 tsp dried chilli (optional)
3 tbs olive oil
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Preheat the oven to 220 degrees C.
To make the breadcrumbs, break the ciabatta into 5cm pieces. Place on a baking tray and scatter with rosemary and dried chilli. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt & pepper. Bake until the bread turns a rich golden colour. Shake the tray from time to time so the bread cooks evenly.
After the bread has cooled, place it in a food processor and pulse it to the consistency of coarse sand. You can also rub it between the palms of your hands. Set aside.
Bring a saucepan of salted water to a boil. Cook the squid tentacles for about 10 mins; drain, then rinse in cold water. Chop roughly then set aside.
Reduce the oven temperature to 180 degrees. In a mixing bowl bring together the ricotta, breadcrumbs, marjoram, lemon zest, garlic, parmesan and chopped tentacles. Season for taste and add a good splash of extra virgin olive oil. Use a spoon or piping bag to fill the squid with the ricotta stuffing, then secure the ends with toothpicks.
Place a sheet of greaseproof paper on a baking tray, and smear it with some olive oil (it’s easiest if you use your hands to do this). Place the stuffed squid tubes on the baking tray and cook in the oven for 8-12 mins or until the squid turns white.
In the meantime, get the dressing going. Put the anchovies, chillies and parsley in a bowl large enough to accommodate the squid. Pour in just enough extra virgin olive oil to make a rough paste. Season with salt & pepper and add a squeeze of lemon juice. Transfer the squid from the baking tray to the bowl; use tongs to rotate the squid to coat it with the mixture.
Arrange the tubes on plates and drizzle with the remaining anchovy dressing. Finish with cracked pepper, another drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a scattering of fennel tops or celery leaves.
Category: Italian
Source: “Daily Italian” by Tobie Puttock
Rating: Five stars
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