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Pan-fried cuttlefish with chickpeas and Swiss chard recipe
Cuttlefish is similar in flavour to squid, but the flesh is thicker; cut thinly it is also tender. The best thing, though, is that it tends to be half the price of squid! The fish, along with the salty anchovies, red chilli and parsley, goes beautifully with the chard and chickpeas.
Ask your fishmonger to skin the cuttlefish for you, as the skin can be hard to get off yourself. This recipe serves four people.
This recipe is from my latest cookbook, The Italian Pantry. If you'd like to get your copy signed, just pop into the kitchen when you're in the restaurant and say hello.
Ingredients
500g (1lb 2oz) Swiss chard
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, sliced
100g (3½oz) datterini tomatoes, quartered
1 x 700g (1lb 9oz) jar of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1kg (2lb 4oz) skinless, cleaned cuttlefish
100ml (3½fl oz) whole milk
50g (1¾oz) tipo 00 flour
4 anchovy fillets in olive oil, finely chopped
1 teaspoon chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves
1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
Juice of 1 lemon
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
Method
Cut the green parts away from the Swiss chard stalks and cut the stalks into 1cm (½inch) matchsticks.
Bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil over a high heat and add the chopped stalks. Bring the water back to a boil and blanch the stalks for 3 minutes. Remove the stalks from the water using a slotted spoon and set to one side. Add the green leaves of the Swiss chard to the boiling water. Bring the water back to a boil and blanch the leaves for 1 minute. Drain them in a colander and squeeze out the excess water. Transfer the leaves to a chopping board and chop roughly. Set to one side.
Heat 1 tablespoon of the extra-virgin olive oil in a medium saucepan over a medium heat. Add the garlic and blanched chard stalks and cook gently for 5 minutes so all the moisture from the stalks has cooked away. Add the tomatoes and chard leaves and then the chickpeas. Stir everything together with 1 tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil and cook the mixture gently for 5 minutes, until hot through. Season with salt and pepper and keep warm to one side.
On a chopping board, cut the bodies of the cuttlefish into 1cm (½inch) slices (some slices will be longer than others as the cuttlefish body is tapered). Toss the slices into a bowl with the milk.
Season the flour with salt and pepper and add this to the bowl with the fish and milk. Toss the fish again so that each piece has an even coating of seasoned flour.
Heat the remaining olive oil in a large frying pan over a high heat. One at a time, add the floured fish slices to the hot oil. Cook the slices for a couple of minutes, turning regularly, until each is cooked evenly and has a nice golden colour.
Cup a slotted spoon over the cuttlefish and tilt the pan to drain off the oil into a bowl. Add the anchovies, parsley and red chilli to the pan and give it a shake to coat the cuttlefish evenly. Squeeze over the lemon juice.
Spoon the chickpea and chard mixture onto a large plate and top with the fried cuttlefish. Serve immediately.
Theo Randall at the InterContinental
Phone: +44 (0) 20 7318 8747
Email: TheoRandall.Reception@ihg.com
InterContinental London Park Lane - One Hamilton Place, Park Lane, W1J 7QY London