Summertime in the right season to eat squid. The sea gets packed with hundreds of small boaters that get out at sea every dawn and dusk. they are looking for squid. Either very small ones (2 inches long) or good size ones ( up to 3 pounds in weight).the tiny little ones are the ones most appreciated; Restaurant owners pay up to 1€ for each of those. But the big ones are also well paid for... up to 15€ for a kilo.Squid is one of the most formidable predators at sea. They pray on any living creature down there, fish crayfish...they vary in sizes, from tiny little ones a few millimeters long to massive monsters like the Architeuthis up to 14 metres long.
I love squid.... grilled, fried, deep fried and battered in what Italians and Greeks call "calamari". I have also eaten them finely chopped, raw and seasoned "tartare" style.Slowly stewed with peppers tomatoes and potatoes in a large pan or as we called it around here: "marmitako". You can make fish balls, lasagna or soup with them... what a great cooking protein!!!
Today I've cooked them italian style with rice and a sauce made of their own ink. They use this ink to scape of other predators when they are at sea. The ink is contained in a small sachet inside their body. It is important to reserve this when the squid is gutted and cleaned. If the amount of ink is not enough to make a dark black sauce we could always add some bought in the supermarket but the quality of this is not as good as the one contained inside the fish.
INGREDIENTS:
FOR THE RISOTTO:
500 gr of carnaroli rice
300 gr of fresh squid
1 glass of white wine
1 litre of fish stock
1 onion
1 garlic clove
2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
50 gr of butter
parmesan or idiazabal grated cheese
On a wide saucepan, heat the oil and add a finely chopped onion a garlic clove. When the onion turns soft, add the squid and stir for one more minute. Now add the rice and stir again until the rice becomes transparent. Add the little sachets of ink and keep moving until the ink is evenly spread along the rice. At this point, if you realize that the rice is not getting dark enough, you may add some more ink bought at the supermarket.
Pour the glass of white wine and keep stirring The process from now on is common to every risotto: keep stirring the rice while adding some stock little by little when the rice gets dry. In about 17 minutes the rice will be ready, please, don't let it overcook.
Then add the butter and allow it to rest for 5 minutes. Then serve and add the grated cheese.
FOR THE SAFFRON AIOLI:
10 saffron strands
3 garlic cloves
1 egg
2 cups of sunflower oil
on a dry frying pan: dry out the saffron strands until they become crispy. Be careful!! they are very easy to burn. Take them out of the heat as soon as you realize the`ve turned crispy.
Boil the garlic gloves for 15 minutes until they're gone soft.
Add all the ingredients in a food processor and blend them all to a texture similar to that of the mayonnaise and serve with the rice.
I love squid.... grilled, fried, deep fried and battered in what Italians and Greeks call "calamari". I have also eaten them finely chopped, raw and seasoned "tartare" style.Slowly stewed with peppers tomatoes and potatoes in a large pan or as we called it around here: "marmitako". You can make fish balls, lasagna or soup with them... what a great cooking protein!!!
Today I've cooked them italian style with rice and a sauce made of their own ink. They use this ink to scape of other predators when they are at sea. The ink is contained in a small sachet inside their body. It is important to reserve this when the squid is gutted and cleaned. If the amount of ink is not enough to make a dark black sauce we could always add some bought in the supermarket but the quality of this is not as good as the one contained inside the fish.
INGREDIENTS:
FOR THE RISOTTO:
500 gr of carnaroli rice
300 gr of fresh squid
1 glass of white wine
1 litre of fish stock
1 onion
1 garlic clove
2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
50 gr of butter
parmesan or idiazabal grated cheese
On a wide saucepan, heat the oil and add a finely chopped onion a garlic clove. When the onion turns soft, add the squid and stir for one more minute. Now add the rice and stir again until the rice becomes transparent. Add the little sachets of ink and keep moving until the ink is evenly spread along the rice. At this point, if you realize that the rice is not getting dark enough, you may add some more ink bought at the supermarket.
Pour the glass of white wine and keep stirring The process from now on is common to every risotto: keep stirring the rice while adding some stock little by little when the rice gets dry. In about 17 minutes the rice will be ready, please, don't let it overcook.
Then add the butter and allow it to rest for 5 minutes. Then serve and add the grated cheese.
FOR THE SAFFRON AIOLI:
10 saffron strands
3 garlic cloves
1 egg
2 cups of sunflower oil
on a dry frying pan: dry out the saffron strands until they become crispy. Be careful!! they are very easy to burn. Take them out of the heat as soon as you realize the`ve turned crispy.
Boil the garlic gloves for 15 minutes until they're gone soft.
Add all the ingredients in a food processor and blend them all to a texture similar to that of the mayonnaise and serve with the rice.
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