Roman pizza with cuttlefish, broccoli and chilli

Cuttlefish is often seen as a poor version of calamari (squid). In truth they are very different and both equally delicious. Cuttlefish is thicker, meatier and more pronounced in flavour. It matches and complements the bold flavours in this dish, especially with the addition of the colatura d’alici (anchovy sauce).

1 sheet of Roman-style pizza dough

350 g (12 oz/1¹/₃ cups) tinned San Marzano whole peeled tomatoes

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

500 g (1 lb 2 oz) cleaned cuttlefish, cut into 1 cm (½ inch) wide strips

2 red chillies, sliced

1 teaspoon colatura d’alici

PAN-FRIED BROCCOLI

600 g (1 lb 5 oz) broccoli, trimmed of woody stalks

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 onion, finely diced

2 garlic cloves, crushed

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

FOR THE PAN-FRIED BROCCOLI / Cut the broccoli heads into florets and stalks into 1 cm (½ inch) lengths. Bring a pot of water to a rolling boil and blanch the broccoli for 90 seconds. Drain well. Heat the olive oil in a large pan and gently fry the onion and garlic until soft. Turn the heat up to moderate and add the broccoli, stirring constantly for about 4 minutes until tender. Season with a couple of good pinches of salt and a little ground pepper.

TO ASSEMBLE / Preheat the oven to 220°C (425°F). Hand squeeze the tomatoes until they’re uniformly mashed and mix in a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil and a pinch of salt. Spread the tomato mixture on top of the dough as evenly as possible. If the dough has risen excessively, press down gently with the tips of your fingers to make small indentations to trap the tomato. Bake in the oven for 25 minutes. If the teglia is browning more on one side, your oven is not even and the tray may need to be turned. While the pizza is cooking, heat the remaining olive oil in a wide heavy-based frying pan. Once the oil begins to smoke, carefully add the cuttlefish and chilli and cook quickly for a minute or so, continually moving them in the pan. Once the teglia sheet is cooked, remove from the oven and let cool a little. Place on a serving plate as a large piece or cut, using scissors, into individual tiles. Scatter with the pan-fried broccoli and the fried cuttlefish. Mix the colatura d’alici with 125 ml (4 fl oz) of the cuttlefish cooking juices and spoon over the top as a final dressing.

Serves 6–8