I made this for our dinner club earlier in the summer. It's an easy dish that still feels flashy, and it's delicious. Perfect summertime flavors. It pairs beautifully with a linear, acidic white. We had it with Julie Benau's Picpoul de Pinet.
Ingredients
- 8 medium squid
- 2 slices bread
- 4 tbsp whole milk
- 125 g ground pork
- 125 g ground beef
- 2 eggs
- 4 tbsp persillade (parsley and garlic, chopped together)
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 2 cl (about 1 1/2 tbsp) cognac
- 500 g tomata (thick, cooked-down tomato sauce)
- 20 cl (about 3/4 cup) Languedoc white wine
- 1 bouquet garni
- 3 tbsp aïoli
- Salt and black pepper
Method
- Clean the squid and peel off the skin. Pull the heads from the bodies, chop the tentacles with a knife and set them aside.
- For the stuffing, soak the bread in the milk until soft. In a large bowl, mix the pork, beef, chopped tentacles, the bread squeezed dry, the eggs and the persillade. Season with salt and pepper.
- Fill the squid bodies with the stuffing and close each one with a toothpick.
- Brown the stuffed squid in the olive oil in a cocotte, then flambé with the cognac. Set the squid aside.
- Put the tomata in the cocotte and let it caramelize a little. Deglaze with the white wine, then add 50 cl (2 cups) water and the bouquet garni.
- Put the squid back, cover and cook over low heat for 45 minutes.
- Check that the squid are tender. Lift them onto a platter, stir the aïoli into the sauce to thicken it, and adjust the seasoning.
- Spoon the sauce over the squid and serve with rice.