Serves: 3-4 - Time:
This looks like a bit of a fiddly recipe but the stuffing takes a few minutes to come together and, if you choose slightly bigger squid than the ones I bought they’ll be a doddle to stuff. Even the mini squid in the picture weren’t too small to manhandle a bit of stuffing into their cavities –trust me, there are far worse culinary tasks. Prepared squid are available almost everywhere-even the frozen ones are fine- but make sure the cavities are completely empty before filling them. You could serve the stuffed squid as tapas or as a light main course with salad and a few boiled new potatoes.
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 3 medium-sized banana shallots, peeled and very finely chopped
- 3 large garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
- 80g slightly stale white breadcrumbs –from a pain rustique or ciabatta
- 70g pitted green olives, finely chopped
- 6 anchovies in oil, finely chopped
- 3 tablespoons finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
- Grated zest of one large lemon
- 2 teaspoons fennel seeds, crushed
- 2 heaped tablespoons mayonnaise
- About 20 mini or 10 larger prepared squid
Method
- Heat the oven to fan 190˚c, mark 5. Heat two tablespoons of the oil in a saucepan and add the shallots and a pinch of salt. Stir over a moderate heat for 10 minutes until soft but not coloured. Add the garlic and cook for a further 4-5 minutes. Transfer to a mixing bowl.
- Add all the remaining ingredients apart from the squid. Mix well and season with a little ground black pepper-it shouldn’t need any salt.
- Fill the squid cavities with the stuffing-leaving a small gap at the opening to allow the stuffing to expand a bit. Place in an ovenproof dish and sprinkle over any remaining stuffing. Drizzle with the remaining two tablespoons olive oil and cook in the oven for 20-25 minutes until the squid is opaque-you can cut a little off the top of one to check it’s cooked.
