Squid is wonderful type of seafood that is slowly becoming more popular. These days its available in supermarkets already cleaned and ready to use. Probably the best know squid dish is Calamari where it?s breaded, fried and served with tomato sauce to dip into. Here I cook the squid slowly, first in stock to make it tender. Smoked garlic makes a wonderful twist to tomato sauce and is now available at some large supermarkets including tesco's and farmers markets.
Ingredients
20 squid rings
16 raw king prawns
1 medium onion finely diced
2-3 cloves smoked garlic
2 tins chopped tomatoes
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp chopped coriander
1 clove regular garlic
200g (8oz) Spaghetti
1. *If you bought squid tubes rather than squids rings it’s no problem just wash them well in cold water then turn them inside out to ensure there is no tiny bits of cartilage remaining inside rinse again and dry on paper towel.
2. Put the squid rings in a saucepan, cover with cold water and simmer for 15 minutes.
3. Drain all but 4 tbsp of the cooking water and allow the squid to cool.
4. Heat 2 tbsp of olive oil in a non-stick saucepan and add the onion and cook on a medium heat until the onion is translucent.
5. Add the chopped tomatoes then stir in 2 tins of cold water.
6. Peel the smoked garlic and crush finely then add to the sauce.
7. Cook the sauce on a low simmer for 35-40 minutes until the sauce has evaporated by ¼ so you have approximately 3 tins of sauce left.
8. Stir in the squid cooking liquor and the coriander and keep the sauce warm.
9. Peel the king prawns, de-vein them using a sharp small knife, then rinse them under cold water and drain on paper towel.
10. Cook the spaghetti in plenty of boiling salted water, then drain.
11. Heat the remaining olive oil in a large non-stick frying pan until it is hot then add the regular garlic and the King prawns and brown lightly on both sides quickly, then reheat the squid for 1-2 minutes.
12. Add the pasta and sauce to the frying pan and stir once or twice.
the squid for 1-2 minutes.
To Serve
Use a pair of tongs to twist the pasta into a mound in each warm pasta bowl.
Chef's Tips
Of course if you have wood chips and smoker you could smoke the tomatoes which would add a wonderful additional complexity to the sauce. To do this you would hot smoked them which means they are being cooked at the same time as being smoked. Cold smoking is where the food is further away from the heat source so by the time the smoke passes over the food it is cold, this method cures but does not cook. Most cold smoked foods are salted or brined first to remove much of the moisture before smoking, thus helping to extending the shelf life.
Buy the squid frozen and therefore just defrost the amount you need.
Add a few olives if you wish and serve with warm crusty bread.
Always try to use a thick bottomed saucepan when making sauces and stir from time to time to prevent it from burning.
Smoked tomatoes are fabulous! We love to smoke almost anything. Don't know why we had not popped garlic into the smoker.
This sounds terrific. Do you smoke the whole bulb? Do you cut off the top? Please tell me your procedure. I'd love to add this to the roasted pumpkin soup for Thanksgiving.
Mary-Anne
SF Bay Area