Rick Stein's cuttlefish with meatballs and peas recipe
I wish we weren’t saddled with the idea of surf and turf. It’s so vulgar, while something like mar i muntanya – dishes that combine meat or sometimes chicken, rabbit and even snails with lobster or prawns, cuttlefish or squid – are anything but. Traditionally it was a way of eking out expensive meat or chicken with dirt-cheap seafood, but now of course the reverse is true, which is why I’ve used mostly cuttlefish, a seafood that is still very good value for money, I find that minced chicken and pork meatballs and the cuttlefish go well together. Do use squid if you can’t find cuttlefish. This dish isn’t always garnished with prawns but I love the colour they add.
Ingredients
For the Picada- 2 tbsp Olive oil
- 2 Fat garlic cloves, peeled but left whole
- 10 g Slice crustless white bread
- 10 g Toasted blanched almonds
- 1 Small vine-ripened or beef tomato, halved
- 1 tsp Flat-leaf parsley leaves
- 6 tbsp Olive oil
- 2 Garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 Medium onion, finely chopped
- 90 ml Dry white wine
- 1 Large vine-ripenedor beef tomato (about 200g) halved
- 2 tsp Tomato purée
- 15 g Slice crustless white bread
- 1.5 tbsp Milk
- 2 tbsp Chopped flat-leaf parsley
- 225 g Minced chicken
- 225 g Minced pork
- 1 Pinch, freshly grated nutmeg
- 6 Large shell-on raw prawns
- 375 g Cleaned cuttlefish, cut into 2cm wide strips
- 150 ml Chicken stock or water
- 100 g Shelled peas, fresh or frozen
- 1 Pinch salt and freshly ground black pepper
Details
- Cuisine: Spanish
- Recipe Type: Starter
- Difficulty: Medium
- Preparation Time: 30 mins
- Cooking Time: 35 mins
- Serves: 6
Step-by-step
- Grate the halved tomatoes for the tomato sauce and the picada, pressing the fleshy, cut face of the tomato against the grater. (As you grate each tomato half, the skin will flatten out and be left behind.) Discard the skin.
- For the picada, heat the olive oil in a small frying pan over a medium heat. Add the garlic cloves and slice of bread and fry, turning over now and then, until golden brown. Lift out with a slotted spoon and add to the bowl of a mini food processor with the almonds, tomato, parsley and 1 tablespoon cold water. Blend to a paste and set aside.
- Put 2 tablespoons of the oil, half the garlic and the onion into a saucepan and fry for 10 minutes until soft, sweet and lightly golden. Add the wine, grated tomato and tomato purée and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 6-7 minutes until reduced and thickened.
- For the meatballs, tear the bread into a small bowl, sprinkle with the milk and leave until soft. Break up the bread with your fingers and add the remaining chopped garlic, the parsley, minced chicken and pork, nutmeg and 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and black pepper. Mix together well and shape into 2.5-3cm balls.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of oil, add the meatballs and fry for 3 minutes, shaking the pan every now and then, until golden brown. Set aside on a plate. Discard any oil left in the pan.
- Heat another tablespoon of oil in the pan, add the prawns and fry for 1 minute on each side until just cooked through. Set aside on a plate. Add another tablespoon of oil to the pan, then the cuttlefish and stir-fry for 2 minutes or until it is nicely caramelized and just cooked through. Set aside with the prawns.
- Add the tomato sauce to the pan, stir in the picada and simmer for 2 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium, stir in the stock or water and bring to the boil, stirring. Add the peas, meatballs and cuttlefish and season to taste with salt and pepper. Scatter over the prawns and simmer for 5 minutes until any remaining liquid has reduced and everything has heated through. Serve with crusty fresh bread.
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More recipes from Rick Stein
Book: Rick Stein's Spain published by BBC Books
Photographs copyright James Murphy