Like a good Basque, Karlos Arguiñano He is a great lover of fish and seafood, and in addition to preparing good seafood stews all year round, he enjoys cooking lighter dishes that are perfect for our everyday menus. In one of his latest programs he encourages us to prepare grilled cuttlefish, an economical and healthywith a very easy recipe in which it gives us the keys to make it just right.
Before starting the job you have to buy the raw materials, which logically we recommend choosing the best quality possible at the nearest fishmonger. We are looking for a whole fresh beautiful cuttlefish, which will be cheaper if we buy it dirty; We can ask the fishmonger to prepare it, or practice learning how to clean cuttlefish at home.
This cephalopod is great in stews such as cuttlefish stewed in wine, in rice, fideuás, in sauce or cooked in the form of meatballs, but Arguiñano starts the course betting on an infallible preparation, grilled cuttlefish. The only difficulty is in don’t go overboard, as it could be leathery and hard; We want a crispy texture on the outside and tender and juicy on the inside.
To do this, the cook separates the body or tube from the tentacles, and divides both parts into two equal pieces. The first trick, and almost the most important, is to tick those central bodies or pods with a sharp knife, drawing a kind of rack with parallel and perpendicular lines diagonally, always without completely crossing the meat.
Next comes the second trick, as it leaves all the parts of the cuttlefish in a dish where it is mixed with a couple of peeled and sliced or chopped garlic cloves, watering everything with a splash of extra virgin olive oil, and leaving marinating about 30 minutes.
While the cephalopod rests, Arguiñano takes the opportunity to make a very simple green oil that will be the perfect accompaniment To enhance its flavor, a kind of green sauce that you make in a blender by grinding a bunch of parsley, another of coriander, a teaspoon of ground cumin and another of oregano, with about six tablespoons of oil. Logically, it can also be made with a mini-quick hand mixer.
Another key point for the cuttlefish comes when it comes to cooking it, since the non-stick griddle or frying pan must be very hot. With the cephalopod already marinated in the oil, there is no need to add more fat; we just have to cook the bodies starting with the side of the cuts -important- and, another trick, pressing down at the beginning so that they mark and brown well.
With two or three minutes on each side It should be enough, it is essential not to go overboard. Arguiñano salts the cuttlefish a little during cooking and removes it to one side of the grill to keep it warm while he takes the opportunity to cook some cut tomatoes, although we can do any other vegetable. In a couple of minutes everything is ready to plate with the oil and a little more salt.
And so we have a first-class dish, easy and quick, as healthy and light as it is delicious and very easy to adapt to other cephalopods such as squid or squid, or even fish to grill, such as hake, salmon or tuna.
Jata Gr195 Grilling Pan Cooks Equally on the Entire Surface 46
*Some prices may have changed since the last review
Photos | Karlos Arguiñano – Kirsten Loza
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