This made a tasty, albeit slightly unhealthy, lunch. It was quick to make and very moreish. If I made this again, the one thing I'd change would be to have a greater ratio of squid - but then I absolutely love the stuff so I could be biased.
If you don't have chard, then spinach, kale or any other leafy veg would work just as perfectly.
If you are using chard though, first separate the stems from the leaves, as the stems take longer to cook. Once the chard is prepared, use the chopping board to cut the squid into strips and the chorizo into half moon shapes.
Heat up a large frying pan and first put the chorizo in, cooking it until the paprika flavoured oils coat the pan. Then add the chard stems and cook for a few minutes to soften them up.
Throw the squid in and give them a minute to start to cook through, then add a tin of drained and rinsed chickpeas. Pour a glug of sherry into the mix and cook until all of the alcohol has gone. Season with plenty of pepper, I doubt you'll need much salt, but a little is needed.
I've made various versions of paella in my time, this one is my favourite so far, although I'm not sure what exactly made it so. I was inspired to make it while reading Rick Stein's "Spain", but the dish I cooked had very little resemblance to the recipe that influenced my choice of dinner. As always, I'm bound by the ingredients I have to hand, so maybe it was just good fortune!
As with many of my dinners, it all starts with a couple of chopped onions and lots of crushed garlic, pan-fried with a nice load of olive oil and a diced red chilli. Once these are soft, in goes a heaped teaspoon of smoked paprika and a load of chorizo.
After a short time cooking, 300g of rice and 700ml of chicken stock went in, along with a chopped green pepper, a couple of handfuls of frozen edamame beans (I'd run out of peas and broad beans), a generous pinch of saffron and a pinch of salt.
I didn't have bomba rice so I used arborio and I have to say it worked very well. I probably ended up using well over a litre of stock/water over the course, I just added a little extra at a time, whenever the pan was getting dry, until the rice was cooked. It probably took about 20 minutes or so - I wasn't really paying attention to the time!
When the rice was pretty close to being ready, I made sure it was bubblingly hot and added in a load of sliced squid and the clams. Lid on and kept on a fairly high heat until the clams were open and the squid cooked through.
Served with a sprinkling of fresh coriander and a slice of lemon it was perfect. This amount was enough for two of us to have dinner and leftovers for lunch the following day.
Ingredients list:
Several cloves of garlic, smashed
1 big or 2 small onions, chopped
A chilli, chopped
A chorizo sausage, half-moon or quartered
Smoked paprika (I got mine at Waitrose, other supermarkets probably sell it too)
Saffron
A bell pepper of any colour, chopped
Green peas/beans, alter cooking time depending whether fresh or frozen
300g Rice
About a litre of chicken stock
Squid (I buy mine frozen from The Fish Society)
Clams (I get mine delivered fresh from Abel & Cole)
Coriander and lemon to serve
This is the easiest dinner of them all, but you do need good quality fish and seafood to pull it off; it's pretty simple, so it relies heavily on the flavours from the fish.
I've recently had a new order through from the fish society that included monkfish and squid, along with a bunch of fresh clams from abel and cole. I thought these would make a perfect combination when cooked a bit like the French moules mariniere. I found a recipe to inspire me in Nigella Express; like her or not, this particular cookbook is a good one. As always, though, I had to personalise it!
I had some lovely broad beans so I shelled them, blanched them and removed their cases to go in with the stew.
I heated up some butter and oil in a pan and fried a sliced onion. Added sliced monkfish and squid rings for a few minutes, then added a couple of queen scallops and a glass of white wine. I left it until it was bubbling hot before adding the clams and covering with a lid. They need shaking up every now and again, but they only need cooking for a few minutes.
Add a splash of sherry or marsala and some chopped parsley, cover again and cook for yet another few minutes. Finally, take off the heat, mix in some spring onions or chives, a crack of black pepper and serve with fresh bread and butter. Food for the soul!
The fish society have very kindly created a discount code for us: enter the word HEDON in the discount textbox when you check out and you'll get 10% off.
***again, I need to mention that I don't get any special bonuses or payments for recommending companies, I just do it because I like them, their products and their customer service. This discount code was a lovely guesture they made after reading comments I'd already made about them. Just so we're clear!***
I was wondering what to do with the wonderful fresh clams I had delivered on Friday and, quite randomly, came across a recipe originating from the Italian province my Grandparents lived in, Ancona. I remember having this for dinner as a child and just had to make a version of it.
I was lucky enough to have a few squid and queen scallops in the freezer, courtesy of The Fish Society. I defrosted these along with some homemade fish stock I cooked up a few weeks ago. I also had some pancetta and dab fillets in the fridge, so I figured that with the clams this would make a pretty decent meal.
For something so tasty it really doesn't take a lot of effort. A bit of chopping: garlic (I used wet garlic because I'm lucky enough to have had some in my veg box this week), onion, celery, chilli and carrot. And then straight into the cooking part...
I heated up some olive oil in a big pan and added the garlic and chilli, a few moments later the pancetta, celery and onion went in and, on not too high a heat, cooked almost through. Then the carrots and a glass of white wine, letting it sizzle until almost (but not quite!) evaporated. Then a tin of plum tomatoes, chopped up a bit with scissors, and some tomato puree. I let that cook for a bit and then added the stock, about a pint, a handful of chopped parsley and a shot of vodka (once again I must say please trust me on this... the vodka works).
I left that to bubble away for a good twenty minutes to reduce before adding the squid, scallops, dab fillets, clams and a huge handful of fresh basil. It was only few minutes before they were cooked, ready to be served in giant bowls with freshly sliced homemade bread - perfect for scooping up all of the lovely sauce.
