I’m not sure why, but stuffed seafood has always been intriguing to me. I’ve loved the idea of stuffed squid for as long as I could cook for myself. I love stuffed crab when I see it on a menu in Portugal. There’s just something great about having a whole meal within a sea animal. Weird, right?

I’ve made stuffed squid for myself a number of times, but the ingredients change a lot (except for chorizo – that always seems to be there). There are so many ways to make stuffed squid, and you can completely adapt it to your taste.

Knowing who my audience was going to be, I wanted to make 2 types of squid. One that would satisfy my parents, and one that would hit the spot with JA. Both parties would like both types of squid, but I knew which ones each would prefer even before I made them.

The beauty of the squid I used in this recipe is it’s locally caught and sold at the fish market just down the road from my parents’ house. Portuguese squid, Portuguese prawns, Portuguese chorizo (from the supermarket, but still local)….

Now, for this recipe I was lucky enough that my dad had already made up this delicious lemongrass paste from the Nopi cookbook, however you can make up your own paste, by clicking here and blitzing the ingredients in a food processor. If you want to make it a bit smoother, add a bit of olive oil and blitz more to take off the rough edge of it.

Ingredients

20 cm squid, 2 per person, cleaned
200 grams prawns, shells removed
300 grams chorizo
2 cups cooked rice
2 tbsps Nopi lemongrass curry paste
4 shallots, diced
1 lime, zested and juiced
1 lemon, juiced
3 peppers, red or yellow
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup water

1. Rinse the squid, prawns and tentacles well. Drain and separate the prawns and tentacles from the squid casings.
2. In a non-stick frying pan, gently fry the prawns and tentacles until the prawns are pink and the tentacles have turned white (instead of translucent).
3. Remove the prawns and tentacles from the pan, and roughly chop everything into small pieces. Place the prawns and tentacles in a bowl.
4. Fry two of the shallots gently until soft. Remove from the heat. Add to the prawn and tentacles mixture. Add the lemongrass paste, lime zest and lime juice. Combine well and set aside.
5. In a separate pan, fry the remaining shallots. Squeeze the chorizo out of its casing, and into the pan. Break it up with a wooden spoon and cook for 5 – 7 minutes over a medium heat.
6. Add the cooked rice to the pan, with the juice of the lemon, and stir well. Cook for a further 5 minutes until well combined, then remove from the heat.
7. Take your clean squid cases, and stuff half of them with the chorizo and rice mix, and the other half with the lemongrass prawn mixture. Close the opening with toothpicks. Place in a glass, covered bowl until ready to cook.
8. Over an open flame, cook your peppers until they are even blackened all over, then place in a zip lock bag, and allow to steam for 10 minutes. Remove from the bag, and peel the charred skin from the peppers. Remove the stem and seeds.
9. Place the peppers in a food processor, along with the garlic cloves and water. Pulse until as fine as possible. Add salt to taste.
10. Pour the sauce into a saucepan, and allow to simmer over medium-low heat for 5 – 10 minutes to reduce the sauce down to a thicker consistency.
11. If using an outdoor grill, make sure that your grill is hot and ready for the squid. If cooking indoors, over a grill pan, or under the oven grill, make sure you’ve got it hot.
12. Cook the squid for 15 – 20 minutes, depending on your cooking choice, but no more. The squid will turn white and purple. It really won’t take long to cook the squid on a grill pan, so be sure not to overcook it. You really just want the insides warm, and the squid cooked well.
13. Remove from the heat, place on a serving platter and enjoy immediately.
14. Pour the sauce into a gravy boat, with a spoon, or drizzle over the chorizo squid.
15. Serve with grilled veggies of your choice.