Barbecued Squid
This is a Jamie Oliver recipe however I decided to write the method that I have used and share my side of the story here after the great success that we had with cooking squid on barbecue.The outcome was so good that I was telling everyone at the barbecue to try this dish out. I was very impressed with the deliciousness of this meal and would rate it as one of the best squid dishes I have ever tasted, though I don’t know if this would be due to the fact that I have prepared it myself! It was also a great success meal forming part of my 21 day sugar detox. If you want to know more about this detox, check out my facebook page.
How to cook squid
Whilst researching online for tips on the best way to cook squid I found out that squid has to be either cooked on very high heat for not very long (not more than 15 minutes) or otherwise cooked longer on very low heat in stews or sauces. Obviously, I decided to try the first method knowing how hungry I get in the evenings. Squid has a high liquid content and thus it is not suggested to marinate in other liquids as the inside might take longer to cook. Brushing it with oil so that it does not stick to the grill is an option, but with the method that I used below, you would not need to do this. Lastly, squid is cooked when it turns from transparent to white, and if you like to taste the char, just make sure that it has taken some colour. We placed the squid on the barbeque as the first meal once the charcoal had reduced down a little bit but still very hot. It took us between around 8 minutes to cook to perfection. Then we seasoned it with the mentioned dressing and we had heaven on a plate.
- 2 cleaned squid
- 1 tablespoon fennel seeds
- Salt & pepper
- 1 juicy lemon (washed)
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon chilly flakes
- Ask your fish monger to clean the squid and give you all the edible parts, basically the main body, the wings and the tentacles.
- Open the main body of the squid from one side to have a flat piece of squid to cook. Score lightly one side of the flesh crisscross with a knife to avoid curling up when grilling. There is no need to do this on the wings and tentacles.
- Using a pestle and mortar crush the fennel seeds, salt and pepper. Alternatively you could use a coffee grinder to grind the seasoning. Then rub mixture into the squid and place in a plastic bag until ready to cook.
- In the meantime, take the zest of the lemon and place it in a jar. Cut the lemon in half, remove the pips and juice the lemon inside the same jar. Place lemon halves inside the same jar as well.
- Add the remaining dressing ingredients inside the jar, shake well and store in fridge.
- When it comes to cooking the squid, make sure that the heat is strong but the flames shouldn’t be touching the grill. Place the squid on grill and turn form time so that squid doesn’t burn. The squid will be cooked when it turns white, however allow for some charring if desired. This took us between 8 to 10 minutes to cook.
- When squid has cooked, serve on a plate, take out a lemon half from the dressing jar and drizzle the dressing onto each squid.
- The side dish that I have are spring onions wrapped in parma ham (prosciutto) and grilled on the barbecue. Great and healthier alternative to sausages.
