This one is a winner! The beautiful combination of sweet squid along with a meaty black pudding and the lightness of anise from fennel works a charm. It’s great with a red pepper sauce and some toasted almonds. Works great if you’ve got guests coming and don’t want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen! If you can’t get black pudding, or have an aversion to it, Chorizo works fantastic as well, or any spiced sausage!
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Squid Stuffing (for 4 medium sized tubes)
1 – onions, chopped
1 – fennel, chopped
40 g- breadcrumbs
1/2 – egg
1/2 tsp – mace
1 tsp – black pepper
2 cloves – garlic, minced
200 g – black pudding, diced
1 tsp – salt
Method
Sweat the onions in a little butter with the salt.
When the onions are soft, add the chopped fennel and sweat until the fennel is soft.
Add the breadcrumbs, spices and egg and cook for 5 minutes on low heat.
Mix in the black pudding.
Allow to cool.
To stuff the squid: Secure the end of the tube with a toothpick (just pass a toothpick through the end like you’re stitching it, so that the stuffing doesn’t come out.) Fill the tube about 3/4 full with the stuffing then secure the open end with a toothpick as well.
To cook, place on an oiled tray, sprinkle the top with a little salt and into a oven heated at 200C for 10-12 minutes. It’s cooked when you can see the filling trying to escape and the tube is puffed up like a balloon.
Red Pepper Sauce
2 – red peppers, chopped
1 – onion, chopped
1 tsp – paprika
1 clove – garlic, chopped
splash - white wine
1/2 tsp - salt
200 ml – water or chicken stock (unsalted)
splash – double cream
Method: Sweat the onions in a little oil or butter until soft. Add the peppers and cook for a further 10 minutes until the peppers are soft.
Add the white wine and turn the heat up, stirring for a couple of minutes to let the wine reduce. Add the rest of the ingredients, bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes.
Blend the mixture and have a quick taste for seasoning.
Eating it: Put a few spoons of the sauce on a plate, the squid on top and sprinkle some toasted almonds over. Ideal with a green salad!
