CHICKPEAS, PRAWNS & SQUID IN ADOBO

Adobo is a thick, strong marinade made with a lot of spices: typically, these tend to include cumin, smoked paprika, oregano, garlic and bay leaf (and, when used with fish, vinegar). It’s best to marinate overnight, or, if time is short, for a couple of hours at least. Cumin might not seem very Spanish but actually it is used a lot in the south of the country, due to the influence of Moorish food.

This is very quick: bar the overnight chickpea soaking and squid marinating, the actual cooking takes less than 10 minutes, as the adobo marinade helps to thicken the sauce so you don’t need to spend time reducing it. The consistency shouldn’t be too sauce-y but should be a little like chana masala. You could use tinned chickpeas, but the texture will be slightly different.

This is a rich dish, so you don’t want a lot of it – it’s great as a starter or as a smaller meal with a salad.

FOR 4

200g dried chickpeas, soaked overnight (see method)

1 bay leaf

1 onion, halved

300g squid, including tentacles (ask your fishmonger to clean them for you)

12 raw prawns, peeled and deveined

3 shallots, chopped

500ml prawn stock (see here)

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

4 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves

For the adobo marinade

150ml extra virgin olive oil

3 cloves of garlic, crushed

2 bay leaves

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

½ teaspoon hot paprika

Put the chickpeas into a large bowl (remember that they will double in size) and cover with plenty of hot water and an equal amount of sparkling water (this helps them to hydrate more quickly). The volume of water should be about four times the volume of the chickpeas.

The next day, drain the chickpeas and put them into a pan with fresh cold water, the bay leaf and the onion. Put on a medium heat and bring to the boil, then lower the heat and cook until they are nice and soft. Drain and set aside.

Cut the squid into rings, one finger thick. Put all the marinade ingredients into a bowl, add the squid and prawns and leave to marinate for a couple of hours.

Put a pan on a medium heat. When hot, add the marinated squid and let it caramelize for around a minute, then reduce the heat to low, add the prawns and fry for 30 seconds. Add the shallots and cook for a couple of minutes, until nice and soft, then add the drained chickpeas, stock, salt and pepper. Cook until slightly reduced and sauce-y, then stir together and serve, sprinkled with the parsley.