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Squid and tomato salad with fennel and basil
Serves 4 Starters and mains
Ingredients
- 500g cleaned squid (8 medium squid)
- ½tsp cayenne pepper
- 4tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 large fennel, trimmed
- 6 or so assorted seasonal or heirloom tomatoes – use different shapes, colours and sizes
- 75g mixed red and yellow tom berries
- juice of 1 lemon
To serve
- a few sprigs of Greek basil
Method
Cut the squid tubes in half lengthways. Make sure the flesh is clean and then score what was the inside with a sharp knife to make diamond shapes without going through to the other side. Cut crosswise into rough strips about 1.5cm wide, depending on the squid’s size. Pat them dry with kitchen paper and toss with the cayenne pepper, a little sea salt and 2tbsp of the oil.
Using a mandolin or sharp knife, shave the fennel into fine slices and put in a shallow bowl. Slice the tomatoes and add to the fennel along with the tom berries. Add 1tbsp of oil and sprinkle over a little salt.
Heat a ridged grill pan (you could use a hot barbecue along with the ridged grill pan so the strips don’t fall through the bars) on a medium-high heat and when just smoking, cook the squid (in two batches) 3 minutes on one side. Turn over and cook for another couple of minutes until just tender (try a piece). Remove to a bowl. Cook the next batch the same way then put all the squid back into the pan with the lemon juice and stir well.
Tip into a bowl and when cold, add to the fennel and tomatoes. Toss in a few basil sprigs, spoon over the rest of the oil and serve scattered with more basil.
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