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Portugal · Squid

Portuguese Stuffed Squid in Tomato Sauce

Lulas Recheadas

Algarve home cooking at its best: whole squid filled with rice, chouriço and their own chopped tentacles, then braised slowly in a wine and tomato sauce.

  • Prep 35 min
  • Cook 45 min
  • Serves 4
  • Level Medium
Photo: Kirti Poddar · CC BY-SA 2.0
Served with: Portuguese Creamed Greens ↓En Español

Ingredients

Tap each item as you gather it.

For the stuffing

For the sauce

Method

Step by step, the way it is done on the island.

  1. Make the stuffing. Chop the tentacles finely. Warm the oil and cook the onion 5 minutes, then the garlic, chouriço and tentacles for 3 minutes. Off the heat, stir in the rice, parsley, salt and pepper.
  2. Stuff the squid. Spoon the filling into the squid bodies, filling them only two-thirds full because they shrink as they cook. Close each one with a toothpick.
  3. Start the sauce. In a wide pan, warm the oil and cook the onion 6 minutes until soft. Add the garlic, tomatoes, paprika, bay leaf and salt and cook 5 minutes more.
  4. Braise. Lay the squid in the sauce, pour in the wine and water, cover and simmer gently 30–35 minutes, turning once, until a fork pierces them easily.
  5. Serve. Remove the toothpicks, slice the squid in half or leave them whole, and spoon plenty of sauce over. Serve with esparregado and bread.

On the side

The side dish that belongs with it, full recipe included.

Portugal

Portuguese Creamed Greens

Esparregado

Greens cooked soft, chopped fine and bound with garlicky olive oil and a little flour into a creamy purée. In Lisbon it is the classic partner for fried or grilled fish.

  • Prep 10 min
  • Cook 20 min
  • Serves 4
  • Level Easy

You need

  • 1½ lb (700 g) spinach or turnip greens (or a mix)
  • 4 tbsp olive oil
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
  • ½ cup milk or cooking water
  • 1 tsp white wine vinegar
  • Salt and pepper to taste

How to make it

  1. Cook the greens. Boil the greens in salted water until tender: 2 minutes for spinach, 6–8 for turnip greens. Drain, squeeze out the water and chop very fine.
  2. Garlic oil. Warm the olive oil in a pan over medium-low heat and cook the garlic 1 minute without browning.
  3. Thicken. Stir in the flour for 1 minute, then whisk in the milk until smooth and thick.
  4. Finish. Add the greens and stir for 3–4 minutes until creamy. Season with salt, pepper and the vinegar and serve hot.

Photo: Glory Foods · CC BY 2.0

More ways to cook Squid

Same fish, a different corner of the sea.

Madrid, SpainSpanish Fried Calamari Rings
Lima, PeruPeruvian Crispy Squid
Cienfuegos, CubaCuban Squid in Its Ink