Braised squid with chorizo and fennel
This is a very forgiving recipe that encourages you to use your intuition and senses as you go – in true Italian style. Cooking squid low and slow will leave you with melt in the mouth perfection. Serve with some crusty bread – or store overnight to allow the flavour to really develop!
Ingredients
- 2 whole squids (from a reputable fishmonger)
- 100ml olive oil
- 60g chorizo, chopped into small cubes
- 1 onion, chopped
- ½ - 1 fennel bulb, sliced finely (cored and outer leaves removed)
- 3 – 4 garlic cloves (minced)
- 1 – 2 red chillies, finely chopped
- 1 lemon, zested and juiced
- 200ml white wine
- 400ml tin whole plum tomatoes, crushed by hand
- ½ tablespoon fennel seeds, toasted and lightly crushed
- Handful of parsley leaves, finely chopped
Directions
- Step 1 Clean the squid (or have your fishmonger do this for you). Cut the tube, fins and tentacles into 2–3 cm segments.
- Step 2 Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium-high heat until the oil starts to shimmer. Fry off the chorizo for 2-3 minutes or until it starts to crisp. Remove the chorizo from the oil with a slotted spoon and set aside on a paper towel to soak up the excess oil.
- Step 3 Add the chopped fennel and onion to the pan, and sweat for about 5 minutes, until translucent.
- Step 4 Add the garlic, chillies, lemon zest and chorizo to the pan and fry off for one minute until fragrant.
- Step 5 Add the squid and cook for 8 – 10 minutes (or until its liquid is released).
- Step 6 Add the white wine and simmer until the liquid reduces by half.
- Step 7 Add the crushed tomatoes and fennel seeds, and lower the heat to medium-low. Leave to simmer for 1.5 to 2 hours. It’s done when the sauce has a jammy consistency and you can see the bottom of the pan when you drag a spoon across it.
- Step 8 Take off the heat, season with lemon juice (start by adding ½ a tablespoon and tasting). Season generously and stir through the parsley leaves.
“Of course there is no formula for success, except perhaps an unconditional acceptance of life, and what it brings.” Arthur Rubinstein
At different times in life, we experience anxiety. Often this expresses itself as ruminating over things we can’t control. It can be helpful during these times to take a step back and practice unconditional acceptance. There are some things we can control and others that we cannot. The more that we can accept the latter and treat both the bad and good as serving a purpose in our lives, the easier it will be to emotionally detach from expected outcomes and meet challenges from a position of strength.
