My father's family is Italian, but we don't make many of the traditional Italian dishes in our family. Gnocchi is the only one that we really see as our own; for my nona, pizza and even oregano were foreign foods. We northerners could make and eat pizza, but it wasn't ours.
But every year, at Good Friday, we have the one and only
real family dish. We've met almost no other family that makes it. It's stuffed squid, also known as devilfish.
This recipe is a real chore to make and takes a lot of time to cook. To make it for a dozen people is an all-day job. And it's worth it.
On selecting your squid
The squid is a tricky part of this dish. Let's check that part out first.
Squid are available in most grocery stores, in two- or three-pound boxes, frozen as a block, in the frozen seafood section.
Avoid these squid.
Go instead to a fish market or an Asian supermarket. Find loose, thawed squid. If you can get it fresh, do so; the difference is huge. But if you have to settle for previously frozen, that's okay too.
The reason you want to find them loose and thawed is that size is important. The tubes should measure at least 4" from the lip of the tube to the point. If you get them frozen, you can't tell how big they are. (And don't even bother with the frozen, cleaned squid tubes. They won't work for this recipe.)
Select squid that are all about the same size. The colour of the flesh should be light, nearly white; sometimes you'll see ones with a purple colour, and although they taste fine they tend to fall apart more easily during cooking.
For freshness, use the same approach as for any seafood. The fish should not have a film on it. It should smell faintly fishy but not strongly or unpleasantly so. The skin should not be damaged.
I last found them today for $2.59/lb. This is a great price. Six huge squid for $17. You'll need about two squid per person.
On cleaning squid
There are a few sub-steps to this part of the process:
1. Remove tentacles
2. Remove head from body
3. Clean out body
4. Remove skin from body
5. Remove fins from body
Removing the tentacles
Cut the tentacles off just below the eyes. Buried in the middle of the tentacles is the squid's beak; you want to cut just below the beak.
Put the tentacles aside; you'll need them.
Removing the head from the body
Squid have a long piece of cartilege running the length of their body. We refer to this as the quill; I don't know what the squid call it.
Find the quill. The end of it is buried in the flesh right at the bottom of one side of the tube. The head is also attached on this side. Let the head rest in your palm and pinch with your thumb and forefinger the area just inside the tube where the head is attached to the body. Pull hard. If you've got the right place, you'll feel the quill give way along with the head, and the quill and the head should pull away easily, taking with them most of the guts in the body.
In many squid, these guts are white, gelatinous sacs of fluid. They are disgusting. But recently I worked with squid that had a large orange sac that ruptured as I pulled the head out, on every squid I cleaned. I'm not squeamish about squid -- I've cleaned enough of them -- but that was disgusting. I don't know if it had something to do with the time of year, or maybe the species of squid. But when you do this step, you'll want running water nearby.
You also want to have a plastic bag to throw the head, guts, and quill into. Double-bag it, in fact; the guts rot quickly and will stink up an average garage in a day if it's hot out.
Cleaning out the body
Sometimes the squid clean easily, but usually some innards will remain in the tube. Look into it; you'll see white blobs attached with membranes to the inside of the tube. Feel around with your fingers and pull it all out.
Be careful, though; don't split the tube at the top or the bottom. And keep rinsing it out with cold water.
Removing the skin
The purple skin of the squid is quite edible, but it has a bitter taste and, in this dish, an unattractive look. Luckily the bigger the squid, the easier it is to remove.
Start near the top of the tube, in the flat area between the two fins. Pinch the skin and try to pull it away. If it won't give, carefully poke a paring knife through the pinched skin to start a hole. Once you've got a hole, pull the skin down. After it's started, you should be able to get most of the skin off in one or two pieces.
There are actually two layers of skin, a clear outer membrane with the mottled purple skin beneath it. Be sure to pull off both layers; if you've got purple dots left on the body, you haven't taken off the layer beneath.
It can be difficult to take the skin off the underside of the fins. Don't bother if you can't get at it. We've got other plans for those fins.
Removing the fins
On smaller squid, you can just grip the lower edge of the fin where it joins the body, and pull it off the squid; there's a sort of seam between the fin and body that allows it to come away quite easily. However, on larger squid you may need to start the fin off using a paring knife. Either way, go slowly near the top of the fin, as you could tear a hole in the top of the squid.
You now have cleaned, skinned squid tubes, and a bowl of tentacles and fins. Rinse them again and you're ready to stuff them.
Making the stuffing
Mince the fins and tentacles from the cleaned squid. Don't worry about the skin on the tentacles, or any bits of skin remaining on the fins. However, some squid have large suckers on the tentacles, and the larger suckers have a very rigid ring in them. I remove these, as I don't think they break down enough during cooking. Smaller suckers are not a problem. Some squid seem to have very soft suckers, too, and those can be added without a problem.
I have been tempted to do the mincing in a food processor. However, I don't think the squid should be made into a paste; it should have some texture. If you use a food processor, pulse it lightly.
Mince an onion and sweat it in a frying pan. Add the squid and season with salt and pepper. Cook for about two minutes, moving the squid around so that it gets cooked. The squid should give off plenty of liquid.
Remove the pan from the heat and add breadcrumbs until the liquid is soaked up. The mixture should have a sticky, doughy consistency. Set aside and allow to cool.
On stuffing the squid
When the stuffing is cool enough to handle, scoop small balls of it with a teaspoon and stuff it as far down the squid as you can. Try to get the stuffing right into the tip. When the squid is half full, set it aside.
Hear that?
Half full, then
set it aside. The squid will shrink a
lot during cooking. You will be tempted to overstuff them. Do your best not to be tempted. It's not easy.
When the squid are stuffed, close the ends using toothpicks. My grandmother used to sew them shut using needle and thread, but that seems like more trouble than it's worth. Long, round toothpicks are much easier and work equally well.
You may have some leftover stuffing; set it aside, as you can use it soon.
And that's it! Only an hour or two since you're started, and you're ready to get cooking!
Stewing the squid
If you are cooking four squid or fewer, you can use a large covered skillet; otherwise, you'll need a heavy stock pot or large, heavy saucepan. Mince an onion and sweat it in olive oil in the pan. While the onion is cooking, mix tomato paste with water -- about one cup of water per small can of tomato paste, and about one can of tomato paste per four squid.
When the onion is transparent, add the tomato paste mixture, and carefully place the squid into the pan. Add water until the squid are just covered. Season with salt and pepper, add any leftover stuffing, and gently stir the mixture so that everything is combined. Work very carefully, as the squid begin to balloon as soon as they heat up and they will split very easily.
Watch the pan carefully. When the liquid nears the boiling point -- at the first sign of bubbling -- turn the heat down to a low simmer. Cover the pan and let it simmer for three hours. Stir it about three times during cooking, just to ensure that the squid cook on all sides and don't stick to the bottom of the pan and get scorched.
Transfer the finished squid and sauce to a large serving bowl. Serve with hot polenta.
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