Tasty Stuffed Squid
Modded from a Spanish cookbook. It's a nice alternative to the usual chilli and garlic. Not that I object to chilli and garlic, mind.
Serves 2
Squid
- We had 6 squid tubes (3 each) about 5-6" long. Each of these was a little less than a sausage. As soon as I started thinking of volumes in terms of sausages, it all came together. The original recipe called for baby squid about 3" long, in which case you'll need about 6 each, I guess. Cut off the tentacles and pull off the fins if present - the fins should just pull away.
Stuffing
- About a sausage and a half's worth of pork mince, half a dozen soaked dried apricots. Or you could do what I did and use 2 Tesco spicy apricot sausages. This has the advantage that you can substitute other sausage flavours (sundried tomato anyone?) should you so desire.
- Two small onions finely chopped.
- A reasonable sized slice of white bread, about a sausage worth in volume, no crust.
Break open the sausages and put the meat in a pan with the onions and roughly crumbled bread. Fry in olive oil until the onions are golden. Put it all in a food processor but do not blend yet.
Briefly fry the tentacles and fins off the squid. A minute should do it. Give a rosette of tentacles to Jeremy because Jeremy loves tentacles. Put the rest in the food processor with the rest of the stuffing mix. Add 2 tsp La Kama Spice or similar. Blend until goopy.
Stuff the squid tubes. This is both fiddly and time consuming and to be honest slightly annoying. A good tip is to cut a tiny slit in the tail of the squid, this will make it a lot easier to get the stuffing into it as it provides an escape for trapped air. Another tip is to not worry about getting your hands dirty - your fingers are a lot better at squid stuffing than teaspoons or whatever. Make sure you have everything you need out the cupboard before you start stuffing as your hands will be basically covered in goop until you're done.
Put in a baking dish. Ceramic is good.
Chop 8 or 10 cherry tomatoes into slices and scatter over the squid, as well as any spare stuffing bits.
Sprinkle fresh basil over the lot. The small leaved Greek basil you can get in pots from Sainsbury's is particularly nice I feel.
Grind pepper over it.
Drizzle with olive oil.
Cover with foil and bake in the middle of the oven at gas 4 for 15 minutes. Uncover and bake for another 10. You will worry that the squid will be overcooked. It won't.
Eat your tasty quid. We had ours with french beans and broccoli flash fried with a bit of balsamic (which is a good way to use up old balsamic). You will want some bread for the juice left in the dish as well.
Serves 2
Squid
- We had 6 squid tubes (3 each) about 5-6" long. Each of these was a little less than a sausage. As soon as I started thinking of volumes in terms of sausages, it all came together. The original recipe called for baby squid about 3" long, in which case you'll need about 6 each, I guess. Cut off the tentacles and pull off the fins if present - the fins should just pull away.
Stuffing
- About a sausage and a half's worth of pork mince, half a dozen soaked dried apricots. Or you could do what I did and use 2 Tesco spicy apricot sausages. This has the advantage that you can substitute other sausage flavours (sundried tomato anyone?) should you so desire.
- Two small onions finely chopped.
- A reasonable sized slice of white bread, about a sausage worth in volume, no crust.
Break open the sausages and put the meat in a pan with the onions and roughly crumbled bread. Fry in olive oil until the onions are golden. Put it all in a food processor but do not blend yet.
Briefly fry the tentacles and fins off the squid. A minute should do it. Give a rosette of tentacles to Jeremy because Jeremy loves tentacles. Put the rest in the food processor with the rest of the stuffing mix. Add 2 tsp La Kama Spice or similar. Blend until goopy.
Stuff the squid tubes. This is both fiddly and time consuming and to be honest slightly annoying. A good tip is to cut a tiny slit in the tail of the squid, this will make it a lot easier to get the stuffing into it as it provides an escape for trapped air. Another tip is to not worry about getting your hands dirty - your fingers are a lot better at squid stuffing than teaspoons or whatever. Make sure you have everything you need out the cupboard before you start stuffing as your hands will be basically covered in goop until you're done.
Put in a baking dish. Ceramic is good.
Chop 8 or 10 cherry tomatoes into slices and scatter over the squid, as well as any spare stuffing bits.
Sprinkle fresh basil over the lot. The small leaved Greek basil you can get in pots from Sainsbury's is particularly nice I feel.
Grind pepper over it.
Drizzle with olive oil.
Cover with foil and bake in the middle of the oven at gas 4 for 15 minutes. Uncover and bake for another 10. You will worry that the squid will be overcooked. It won't.
Eat your tasty quid. We had ours with french beans and broccoli flash fried with a bit of balsamic (which is a good way to use up old balsamic). You will want some bread for the juice left in the dish as well.