The world of the sea gives us gastronomic treasures that not only reign in the great tables of the celebrations, they also populate daily menus and tapas menus throughout our country throughout the year. Cephalopods, the most tender shellfish, star in some of our favorite snacking recipes, and this season is ideal to enjoy them at home.
Unlike crustaceans, mollusks lack an exoskeleton and must use other resources of their own to defend themselves and survive in the harsh environment of marine waters. Bivalves protect themselves with their shells, while cephalopods, also invertebrates, show off an intelligence that often surprises us, hidden behind its primitive appearance.
These animals can reach large sizesAlthough the specimens that we usually find on the market are in medium or small sizes, depending on the species and always in compliance with the legislation that protects the sustainability of the sea. Capturing a squid of several meters in length hidden in the depths of the ocean is a task that we leave to rivals according to its size.
Octopus, cuttlefish or cuttlefish, squid, baby squid and baby squid … if something characterizes cephalopods at the table is their versatility and how much they like everyone, as long as they are prepared correctly and with good quality fresh or deep-frozen product. With simple recipes from a lifetime we can prepare great classics of the aperitif to give us a seafaring tribute of the end of summer without suffering, too much, the pocket.
Five appetizer recipes with cephalopods
Grilled octopus with spicy sauce
Place the peeled garlic -without the germ-, the chilli without the seeds, the peeled ginger piece, the different liquids plus the oil and some coriander or parsley leaves in the glass of a blender, mincer or robot.
Blend until you get a thick homogeneous sauce. Check the taste and correct with an ingredient to our liking. If we have passed we can soften it with some honey or pineapple juice, and lighten it with water.
Heat a grill, brush the octopus with a little oil and salt, and cook over high heat. Brush with a little of the sauce and continue cooking it for about 4-6 minutes, until it is golden brown, almost toasted.
Flip over and paint with more sauce. Continue until both sides are crispy and slightly caramelized, painting with more sauce if we wish. Serve cut with scissors with some fresh herbs on top and the sauce.
Cuttlefish with brava sauce
- Ingredients. 1 cuttlefish, 4 medium potatoes, salsa brava, extra virgin olive oil.
- Elaboration: Cut the cuttlefish into strips and then into blocks. In a frying pan with a few drops of olive oil, we brown the cuttlefish cubes until they are very white and with small brown crusts on the outside. We peel the potatoes, cut into pieces and prick them. We wrap them in film, put them in the microwave and cook them at 700W power for two batches of 5 minutes each, leaving a minute between one and the other. We prepare a brava sauce following the instructions in this recipe or we use a commercial sauce. We serve the sauce over the golden pieces of cuttlefish and mix well over high heat. Add the pieces of cooked potato, stirring. After five minutes, we turn off and let it rest for an hour before giving another heating.
Complete recipe | Cuttlefish with brava sauce
Squid a la Provençal
- Ingredients for 4-6 people. 1 kg of clean cuttlefish cut into rings, 4 peeled tomatoes, 3 medium onions, finely chopped, 50 ml of extra virgin olive oil, 1/2 bunch of clean parsley, finely chopped, 250 ml of crème fraîche or heavy or kitchen cream, thyme to taste, 1 bay leaf, rosemary to taste, cayenne, black pepper and salt.
- Elaboration: In a non-stick casserole, heat the oil over low heat, add the onion, and sauté it, stirring frequently until it becomes soft and transparent. When the onion begins to brown, add the squid and sauté them for three minutes over high heat. Add the diced tomatoes and cayenne, parsley, thyme branch, bay leaf and rosemary. Season with salt and pepper. Cook for 30 minutes over low heat with the saucepan covered, remove the aromatic herbs, and add the fresh cream, stir well and cook for another five minutes without covering the pot.
Complete recipe | Squid a la Provençal
Grilled squid
- Ingredients. 2 clean squid, extra virgin olive oil, salt and optional chopped parsley, lemon to taste.
- Elaboration: We cut the squid into 4-5 medium-sized pieces or, if we prefer to serve it whole in one piece, we cut it into rings, without going to the end. We heat a good iron and wait until it is very hot. We varnish the grill with a pinch of oil and place the pieces of squid, letting them cook without moving them. We wait three or four minutes and turn, then season with a drizzle of oil and let them brown on the other side, which will take another two or three minutes approximately. We take out once they are done on both sides and season very lightly. Sprinkle with a little chopped parsley and serve with lemon to taste.
Complete recipe | Grilled squid
Chopitos or lace
- Ingredients. 250 g of baby corn, salt, flour for frying and extra virgin olive oil.
- Elaboration: We wash the chopiots under the tap and let them drain in a colander. We dry them and extract the pen and the interior, squeezing the sheath as if it were a tube of toothpaste. To dry them, we can spread them on a kitchen towel and cover them with another, or use kitchen paper. Sprinkle fine salt on top and pass them through the flour. We sift them in a sieve or strainer so that they jump and expel the excess flour. We put the oil to heat, or we turn on the fryer at 180ºC, to be able to make a fast frying at high temperature, which will make the baby corn crispy and not take up too much oil. Once golden, we drain them on absorbent paper.
Complete recipe | Battered chopitos
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