“We would eat the sauce with spaghetti as a first course and then eat the stuffed squid with salad afterwards. The squid is stuffed with classic Maltese flavours – capers, parsley, olives and lemon. The pecorino isn’t that traditional, but I like the flavour it gives to the stuffing. If you cannot find large squid, smaller ones work,” says Busuttil Nishimura.
Ingredients
Tomato sauce
Method
1
For tomato sauce, heat oil in a saucepan over low heat. Add shallot and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened (8-10 minutes). Add garlic and marjoram and cook, stirring, until fragrant (30 seconds). Deglaze with wine and cook until reduced by half (1-2 minutes). Stir in tomato. Remove from heat; season to taste and set aside.
2
Clean the squid; reserving the tentacles and wings. Finely chop the tentacles and wings and set aside.
3
Heat half the oil in a large frying pan over a medium-high heat. Add breadcrumbs, and toast, stirring, until lightly golden (5 minutes). Transfer to a large bowl. Wipe pan clean. Return pan to low heat. Cook shallot, stirring occasionally, until softened (8-10 minutes). Increase heat to high; add tentacles and wings and cook until opaque (2-3 minutes). Add garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant (30 seconds). Transfer to bowl with toasted breadcrumbs and allow to cool. Add capers, olives, pecorino, herbs, vinegar and zest; stir well to combine. Season to taste. Spoon the filling into the squid, being careful not to overfill; secure with toothpicks.
4
Heat remaining oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat and brown stuffed squid on all sides (8 minutes). Add tomato sauce and 200ml water and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low and cook, covered, until tender (35-40 minutes).
5
Using tongs, carefully transfer squid to a chopping board and thickly slice into rounds. Spoon sauce onto a serving platter and arrange squid on top. Scatter with extra marjoram to serve.
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