Week 4: Calamari in Umido (braised squid with tomatoes)

And so we enter week 4, the first week that I cooked knowing that this personal resolution would turn into a blog (I wrote the previous posts retrospectively). Wanting to get the most out of my Pizza Pilgrims book, I scoured the pages for another recipe that would take me on journeys new. The weather was nice and after the heaviness of the Oxtail stew and the stodgy delight of the parmigiana, I decided to take a lighter dish in hand. 

Knowing that the local Morrisons usually had a good supply of fish and often had squid, I set out with the ingredients for this dish in mind. Sadly, Morrisons let me down. Luckily however, there's a fish monger's that's just round the corner (looks more like a closed down pound shop selling left-over goods from a freezer), and fresh squid they sold. I asked the chap to gut it for me but I think there was a breakdown in English communication because when I unwrapped the cephalopod mollusc, there was the whole thing in front of me. I went at it with a sharp knife, extracting black stuff and plastic-like cartilage, but if you'd like to see how it can be done more efficiently, watch this youtube video. Serves 4, although I only had half the required squid so it did me for two delicious lunches. You really need a good white wine with this one too.

·  1 onion, chopped	·  1 kg freshly cleaned squid
·  6 anchovy fillets	·  2 tins tomatoes
·  8 cloves of garlic, peeled but left whole	·  Salt and pepper
·  Olive oil	·  Handful of chopped parsley
·  ½ glass of white wine	·  Juice of a lemon

In a large pan, gently fry the onions and garlic in some olive oil and add the anchovies. Once the onions have softened and the anchovies all but dissolved, pour in the wine and reduce it until the alcohol has cooked away.

Add the squid and cook for a couple of minutes before adding the tomatoes and salt and pepper.

Turn down the heat and simmer gently for at least an hour. For a gentler cook, do the above is a metal casserole pot and pop in the over at about 150ᵒc for an hour and a half. This option means you can also go out and do something while it’s cooking. Handy.

Cook until the squid is tender and the tomatoes have reduced to a rich sauce. Stir through the parsley and lemon juice and serve with fresh bread and/or spaghetti.

Note: When I first tried this, I wondered if some chilli would put a bit of a kick into it but then, on my third mouthful, I was transported to the coast of southern Italy, sitting outside a trattoria on a hot summer’s day, with the sun shining off the water and the sound of gentle, bubbling conversation around me. My recommendation: hold the chilli and transport yourself to a place in the sun!

Today’s learning:

Adding some anchovy fillets to a tomato sauce at the ‘onion softening stage’ adds wondrous depth  of flavour. Do try it. Please, really do!

Recipe adapted from: Elliot, J. & Elliot, T. (2013) Pizza Pilgrims. London: Harpercollins