Braised Stuffed Squid

Name: Braised Stuffed Squid
Yield: makes 4 servings
Ingredients: 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, or more as needed; 1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs, preferably homemade (page 580); 1/4 cup pine nuts or chopped walnuts; 8 large squid (bodies at least 6 inches long, about 1 1/2 pounds), cleaned (page 98); 4 or 5 medium shiitake mushrooms, stems discarded, or 2 ounces dry-cured ham, like prosciutto; 1 small onion, peeled and quartered; 4 garlic cloves, peeled; 6 anchovy fillets or 1 teaspoon drained capers, optional; Salt and black pepper to taste; 1 or 2 small dried chiles, or to taste; 1 cup dry white wine; Chopped fresh parsley leaves for garnish

December 14, 2011

I have seen stuffed squid recipes with forty ingredients, and some are quite good; often, they contain squid ink, which—though hard to find (or to collect from the squid’s sacs)—is undeniably delicious. But those recipes are too time consuming for me. Still, squid—like piquillo peppers—seem to have been created for stuffing. So, over the years, I have devised this simple, sensible procedure, which produces a stuffed squid much like the one I was served a couple of years ago in northern Spain. Beware that squid shrinks significantly during cooking, so be careful to stuff it very loosely; over stuffing may result in burst squid. Great with Peasant-Style Potatoes (page 477) or Potatoes with Bay Leaves (page 481).

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