Stuffed squid with tomato sauce

Small tender squid seem to have been designed for the purpose of being stuffed. You just chop of the head, tentacles and fins, pull out the inside bits, wash them under the tap and you have nature’s perfect stuffing container.




Ingredients
8 small squid (or 4 larger ones)
Plenty of homemade tomato sauce
2 slices of good white bread
olive oil
1 glass of red wine

Method

1. Remove and discard the squid’s purple external membrane. Chop off the tentacles and fins, and set them aside. Chop off the head, discard, and remove the insides, including the fibrous quill. Wash well, then pat dry with kitchen paper.
2. Remove the crusts from the bread, break into small pieces, mix with some of the tomato sauce and whizz in a food processor. Chop the tentacles and fins, and mix in with the breadcrumb and sauce mixture.
3. Fill the squid bodies with the sauce and breadcrumb mixture, then seal with a wooden toothpick. (See picture below.) Heat some olive oil in a frying pan, fry the squid for a minute or so until browned.
4. In a saucepan, simmer the squid in the rest of the tomato sauce, to which you have added a glass of red wine. Leave the lid off for first 10 minutes or so, to allow the alcohol to evaporate from the wine, then cover and continue simmering until done. (Around 20 minutes if your squid are small, 30-40 minutes if they are larger.)