Tapas - Squid, Potato and Chilli

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall 

Three Good Things on a Plate

Living in Brixton surrounded by fishmongers and butchers I just had to take advantage and who knew squid was so cheap? Much, much cheaper than prawns and fish and so easy to cook. I have to admit I have always been afraid of cooking squid myself so have always chosen it when I eat out. But after making this really easy dish for our tapas feast I am afraid no more......

Now Henri and I went rogue on a few recipes, this one included. When we added the squid we also draped some chorizo slices over the potatoes, so more like FOUR good things on a plate, sorry Hugh.

Ingredients

4 tbsp olive oil

500g potatoes, unpeeled

3-4 garlic cloves, unpeeled and lightly bashed

3 tbsp plain flour

250g cleaned squid, with tentacles if you like

1-2 fairly large, not too hot red chillies, de-seeded and sliced into fine strips

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Lemon wedges to serve

Sliced chorizo (this was not in the original recipe but we LOVE chorizo)

Method

Preheat the oven to gas mark 6. Put the oil in a large roasting tin and place in the oven for five minutes until VERY hot. Meanwhile, cut the potatoes into roughly 3cm chunks. Add to the roasting tin with the bashed garlic and plenty of salt and peppers, toss in the oil and then roast in the oven for 30 minutes. (Careful not to burn anyone with the splatter of the oil, SORRY Henri).

In the meantime, put the flour in a dish and season well with salt and pepper. Slice the squid bodies into 1cm thick rings, then turn them inside out, which helps them stay 'open' during cooking. Toss the rings and any tentacles in the seasoned flour.

After their 30 minutes, take the potatoes out of the oven and turn the setting up to Gas mark 9. Stir the potatoes well. Push them to one side of the tray to create space for the squid. Put the squid pieces into the tray and stir gently to coat them in the hot oil. (At this point we added the chorizo). Return to the oven for 5-7 minutes until the squid is starting to colour on the base, then stir in the chilli slices and roast for another 5 minutes. Discard the garlic.

Using a slotted spoon, transfer the potatoes, squid and chilli (Chorizo?) to warm serving bowls. Serve straight away, with lemon wedges for squeezing.