Stuffed Squid Sicilian style with Couscous




Stuffed squid - Sicilian style - with couscous

  And so our Saturday of very satisfying eating continued.

A while back I wrote up a recipe for Mackerel with Minted Potato Salad. Cheap, quick and easy. Well, this recipe for Stuffed Squid Sicilian Style has just replaced it in the number 1 spot for easy fish dishes. Apart from the squid the ingredients are things that you're likely to have already, and what you don't have isn't expensive to buy.

The ingredients below are given for stuffing 4 squid, but I was only cooking for 2 so I put the rest of the stuffing through the couscous that I served with the squid.

100g breadcrumbs
1 heaped tbsp raisins (we used some sultanas we had, and soaked them beforehand)
1 heaped tbsp pine kernels (we used sunflower seeds)
1 tbsp grated Parmesan (we get ours from Aldi, very nice and half the price of anywhere else)
6 anchovy fillets
pinch of chilli flakes
Olive oil
splash of white wine (we used the Macon Village from Aldi, it went very, very nicely)
small handful chopped parsley
Salt and pepper

We started with 2 fresh squid from http://glosroadfish.co.uk/, cleaned an prepared by them. I chopped up the tentacles and fried them quickly in some olive oil and added them to a bowl contained the rest of the stuffing ingredients. Then you simply stuff the squid bodies. It can be messy, but it isn't difficult. Then seal up the ends with a cocktail stick.

Put the stuffed squid onto a baking tray, drizzle with olive oil and a splash of white wine, then put them into a pre-heated oven (180c) for 10-12 minutes.

Whilst the squid is cooking prepared your couscous. I generally soak couscous in chicken stock (made from a cube) to give it extra flavour. When it has soaked up the water, drag a fork over it until it has separated into large grains. Dress with olive oil and lemon juice and season. I also added some of the stuffing I had left over.

When the squid is done, take it out the oven, place on top of the couscous, dress with a little more olive oil and a light dusting of paprika and serve.

Squid - stuffed

We were transported. It might have -4c and snowing outside, but round the dining table it was in the high 20s and we were overlooking a calm, blue sea with the smell of ozone in the air. It's a fantastic little dish this, and really, really worth a go. The reward and satisfaction you get is in stark contrast to the effort and the amount of cooking involved. It could be scaled up easily for a dinner party, and can just as easily serve 2 people in need of a bit of Mediterranean sunshine.