This clever combination from Gill Meller, River Cottage head chef, makes an elegant starter or light main course – and it’s a great recipe to try if you’re new to cooking squid. If you don’t fancy prepping the squid yourself, you can buy it ready-cleaned or ask your fishmonger to do it for you. You can use a good-quality shop-bought hummus here if you like, but I’d advise you to loosen it with extra lemon juice and good olive oil. Better still, make your own – it doesn’t take long in a processor.
Serves 4
About 300g cleaned squid, with tentacles if you like
4 tablespoons flaked almonds
1 tablespoon olive oil
A little sweet or smoked paprika (optional)
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the hummus
400g tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed
Juice of 1 lemon
1 garlic clove, crushed
2 pinches of ground cumin
2 tablespoons tahini (sesame seed paste)
3–4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus extra to serve
To make the hummus, put the chickpeas, half the lemon juice, half the garlic, a good pinch of cumin and the tahini in a food processor with a pinch of salt and 4 tablespoons water. Pulse to a coarse mixture, then keep blending as you add 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil. You might need to stop and scrape down the sides once or twice. Add more lemon juice, garlic, cumin, salt or pepper to taste. Scrape the hummus into a small pan.
Cut the squid pouches open along their length. Score the inside of the flesh in a diamond pattern with a knife, being careful not to go all the way through the flesh. Cut each one into a few pieces. Cut the rings of tentacles in half at the base.
Warm the hummus very gently, adding a little more oil and/or water, if necessary, to keep it a thick purée consistency. Keep warm in the pan.
Place a medium, non-stick frying pan over a medium heat, add the almonds and toast them for 1–2 minutes, tossing frequently, until starting to colour. Remove the almonds and set aside.
Return the pan to a high heat and add the olive oil. When smoking hot, add the squid and some salt and pepper. Cook for 2 minutes maximum, tossing the squid around in the pan, until it is opaque and has patches of golden-brown colour. It will curl up in the heat – don’t worry about this, just try to ensure most of the surface makes contact with the pan at some point.
Spoon the warm hummus into mounds on warm plates, top with the squid and scatter over the toasted almonds. Sprinkle, if you like, with a pinch or two of sweet or smoked paprika. Trickle a little more olive oil over and around the whole thing, and serve.