This meal was beyond frustrating. If you do not have time or patience, I would stop reading here. I should have known - a BBC recipe - what do the Brits know about food? After tasting the final product, I hated to admit that it was really tasty - but the process was time consuming and not meant for one of our Wednesday night post-spin class "I'm hungry and want to eat now" meals.
I wouldn't be complaining so much if Derek had prepped the squid beforehand as was the plan - but clearly that did not happen so we had to start from square one starting at 8 PM at night.
Squid - oh how I love you and hate you. I hate to clean them - a fact well articulated in previous posts - but love to eat them. My best compromise is to buy pre-cleaned squid but this was not available at the Farmer's Market where you know they are nice and fresh - so fine, we decided to buy them in their natural state and Derek agreed to do the cleaning so I guess I have no room to complain except for the fact that cleaning takes time - and I was hungry!
Complaining aside - I took charge of the homemade tomato sauce and chopping and left the rest to Derek.
Baby Squid Stuffed with Fennel and Pine Nuts in a Tomato and Roasted Garlic Sauce
Squid Filling
6 baby squid, cleaned
3 shallots
1 small fennel bulb
25g/1oz butter
1 tbsp olive oil
50g/2oz pine nuts (used cashew/sliced almond mix instead)
3 tbsp chopped parsley
25g/1oz pecorino cheese (used something similar)
1 tsp ouzo
½ glass white wine (we omitted - did not want to open a bottle)
juice of ½ lemon
25g/1oz breadcrumbs
3 tbsp chopped basil
For the sauce
6 cloves garlic
25g/1oz butter
1 tbsp olive oil
3 shallots
Tomato Sauce
5 ripe vine tomatoes, de-seeded and chopped
1 tsp caster sugar
1 tsp aged balsamic vinegar (this was my own addition)
1 tsp red wine vinegar
100g/3½oz passata (we took this as "tomato sauce")
1 tsp tomato purée (and this as "tomato paste")
½ glass red wine (depends who is pouring ;) )
salt and pepper
basil leaves, to garnish (I threw in about 1/3 cup finely chopped and mixed it in)
+ additional adjustments not noted
Preparation method
Roast the garlic for the sauce in olive oil (190C/375F/Gas5) for 20-25 minutes or until very soft. (we wrapped this in tin foil)
Place the shallots in a food processor and process until very fine (or chop by hand). Place half of the shallots aside. Add the fennel to the food processor and process until very fine.
Heat 25g/1oz butter and 1 tbsp olive oil and gently cook the shallots and fennel for 5 minutes.
Chop the squid tentacles and add to the fennel mixture, along with the pine nuts. Cook for a further 5 minutes. (I found this odd, but the only way I'll willingly eat the tentacles).
Add the white wine and lemon juice to the stuffing mixture and boil rapidly to reduce by half. Meanwhile finely grate the pecorino cheese.
Add the breadcrumbs, herbs, cheese, ouzo, salt and pepper to the stuffing mixture, allow to cool slightly.
Heat 25g/1oz butter and 1 tbsp olive oil and gently fry the remaining shallots. Add tomatoes, sugar, red wine vinegar and roasted garlic cloves. Cook for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, use a piping bag to fill the squids and secure with cocktail sticks. Take care not to over fill the squids, as they shrink during cooking.
Place the tomato sauce in a food processor and process until smooth.
Return to the saucepan and add passata, tomato purée, red wine, salt and pepper.
Place squid in tomato sauce, cover the pan and poach for 25 minutes. Remove cocktails sticks.
Serve garnished with basil leaves.
Another case of needed those shallow bowl/plates for presentation - though in the end it all tastes the same. One initial comment - this dish screams for bread!!! There is so much tasty sauce that is just waiting to be lapped up by a good piece of bread. Mind you, the sauce would not be as tasty if I had not made so many adjustments. I found it to be almost bitter upon first shot following the recipe and had to tweak to add sweetness and more balance. You would be fine with making any tomato sauce that you enjoy for this recipe. And note - it will take on some of the squid flavor as the squid is cooked in it.
The filling for the squid is what made this recipe worth it. I actually loved using the cashews instead of pine nuts (too expensive) and with the fennel and citrus - quite heavenly!!
And speaking of heaven - yes, the squid - it was pretty incredible. Cooked just perfectly so that it could be cut with a fork. After several run-ins with chewy squid...this is certainly a feat.
At the end of the meal, I stopped complaining and realized that maybe it was worth the effort after all.
I wouldn't be complaining so much if Derek had prepped the squid beforehand as was the plan - but clearly that did not happen so we had to start from square one starting at 8 PM at night.
Squid - oh how I love you and hate you. I hate to clean them - a fact well articulated in previous posts - but love to eat them. My best compromise is to buy pre-cleaned squid but this was not available at the Farmer's Market where you know they are nice and fresh - so fine, we decided to buy them in their natural state and Derek agreed to do the cleaning so I guess I have no room to complain except for the fact that cleaning takes time - and I was hungry!
Complaining aside - I took charge of the homemade tomato sauce and chopping and left the rest to Derek.
Baby Squid Stuffed with Fennel and Pine Nuts in a Tomato and Roasted Garlic Sauce
Squid Filling
6 baby squid, cleaned
3 shallots
1 small fennel bulb
25g/1oz butter
1 tbsp olive oil
50g/2oz pine nuts (used cashew/sliced almond mix instead)
3 tbsp chopped parsley
25g/1oz pecorino cheese (used something similar)
1 tsp ouzo
½ glass white wine (we omitted - did not want to open a bottle)
juice of ½ lemon
25g/1oz breadcrumbs
3 tbsp chopped basil
For the sauce
6 cloves garlic
25g/1oz butter
1 tbsp olive oil
3 shallots
Tomato Sauce
5 ripe vine tomatoes, de-seeded and chopped
1 tsp caster sugar
1 tsp aged balsamic vinegar (this was my own addition)
1 tsp red wine vinegar
100g/3½oz passata (we took this as "tomato sauce")
1 tsp tomato purée (and this as "tomato paste")
½ glass red wine (depends who is pouring ;) )
salt and pepper
basil leaves, to garnish (I threw in about 1/3 cup finely chopped and mixed it in)
+ additional adjustments not noted
Preparation method
Roast the garlic for the sauce in olive oil (190C/375F/Gas5) for 20-25 minutes or until very soft. (we wrapped this in tin foil)
Place the shallots in a food processor and process until very fine (or chop by hand). Place half of the shallots aside. Add the fennel to the food processor and process until very fine.
Heat 25g/1oz butter and 1 tbsp olive oil and gently cook the shallots and fennel for 5 minutes.
Chop the squid tentacles and add to the fennel mixture, along with the pine nuts. Cook for a further 5 minutes. (I found this odd, but the only way I'll willingly eat the tentacles).
Add the white wine and lemon juice to the stuffing mixture and boil rapidly to reduce by half. Meanwhile finely grate the pecorino cheese.
Add the breadcrumbs, herbs, cheese, ouzo, salt and pepper to the stuffing mixture, allow to cool slightly.
Heat 25g/1oz butter and 1 tbsp olive oil and gently fry the remaining shallots. Add tomatoes, sugar, red wine vinegar and roasted garlic cloves. Cook for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, use a piping bag to fill the squids and secure with cocktail sticks. Take care not to over fill the squids, as they shrink during cooking.
Place the tomato sauce in a food processor and process until smooth.
Return to the saucepan and add passata, tomato purée, red wine, salt and pepper.
Place squid in tomato sauce, cover the pan and poach for 25 minutes. Remove cocktails sticks.
Serve garnished with basil leaves.
Another case of needed those shallow bowl/plates for presentation - though in the end it all tastes the same. One initial comment - this dish screams for bread!!! There is so much tasty sauce that is just waiting to be lapped up by a good piece of bread. Mind you, the sauce would not be as tasty if I had not made so many adjustments. I found it to be almost bitter upon first shot following the recipe and had to tweak to add sweetness and more balance. You would be fine with making any tomato sauce that you enjoy for this recipe. And note - it will take on some of the squid flavor as the squid is cooked in it.
The filling for the squid is what made this recipe worth it. I actually loved using the cashews instead of pine nuts (too expensive) and with the fennel and citrus - quite heavenly!!
And speaking of heaven - yes, the squid - it was pretty incredible. Cooked just perfectly so that it could be cut with a fork. After several run-ins with chewy squid...this is certainly a feat.
At the end of the meal, I stopped complaining and realized that maybe it was worth the effort after all.
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