Nov 7

Nov 7 Risotto Nero with Crispy Squid and Samphire

This deeply dark and dramatic risotto is as black as a November night. It is a great way to bring some delicious restaurant style food into your home during our current lockdown without a professional chef to hand.

Cuttlefish ink gives a silky, rich quality to the risotto and has a distinctive but subtle taste which complements other seafood such as this crispy squid. Finally, the samphire gives a hit of fresh greenness with a hint of the salty sea.

Delicious with cold glass of white wine on the sofa or for a more formal at home special occasion.

Cuttlefish ink will keep for a few weeks in your fridge once opened and you can also use squid ink which you can buy in small sachets. Both are readily available online.

Method

Serves 4

Ask your fishmonger to prepare your squid for you if you are not buying it ready prepared.

Remove the tentacles if they have been placed inside the body and then slice the body of the squid almost into rings, leaving a small piece of the skin attached so it remains whole. Keep refrigerated until you are ready to use it.

Next, begin the risotto. Sweat the shallot in the butter until is a soft but not coloured. Add the garlic for the last minute and stir in.

While this is cooking, get your stock ready in a saucepan and keep it warm with the lid on.

Tip the risotto rice into the pan and stir it so that it is well coated in the butter. Cook for a couple of minutes until the grains start to look translucent.

Add the wine and cook until it has been absorbed. Add two ladles of the stock and stir it in. When this has been absorbed, continue adding the stock a ladle at a time.

When you have added half the stock, stir the cuttlefish ink into the risotto and then continue to add the stock.

Put the vegetable oil on at this point too. You will need enough to fill a medium sized pan one third of the way up. The oil needs to be hot enough to fry a bread crumb in around 1 minute. Mix together the flour, paprika, garlic powder, salt and pepper on a plate.

Heat a small pan of unsalted water for your samphire.

When the risotto is al dente, add the lemon juice and add salt and black pepper to season. You may have some stock left over as rice varies in how much liquid it will take. Leave the risotto covered with a lid to rest while you cook your squid and samphire.

Dust your squid in the flour mixture and drop it into the oil, a few pieces at a time. You will need to do this in batches so you don’t drop the temperature of the oil too much. Cook for 1-2 minutes until crispy and just cooked through. Remove and place on kitchen paper to drain. Repeat with remaining pieces.

Blanch your samphire in the boiling water for 2 minutes. Drain and toss in the butter.

To serve, check your risotto and stir in one last ladle of the stock if it needs loosening. It should be not be liquid but still have some movement.

Divide the risotto between plates and top with the samphire and squid. Sprinkle over a last dusting of the smoked paprika for an extra hit of colour, if you like.

Ingredients

Crispy Squid

4 squid

50g plain flour

2 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp garlic powder

½ tsp Fine sea salt

½ tsp freshly ground black pepper

Vegetable oil for frying

Risotto

1 large Echalion shallot finely diced

2 cloves garlic crushed