Under 5 minutes
Langoustines with salt and olive oil
North Sea langoustines are within safe numbers, and just as juicy as the Mediterranean ones if you cook them briefly enough. I see no point in getting fancy with them - just olive oil (or butter if you prefer), lemon and sea salt is fine.
Serves 4
langoustines - 24 (4-6 per person)
black peppercorns - about 12
bay leaves - 4
parsley - a small bunch
extra-virgin olive oil
sea salt
Pull the leaves from the parsley and reserve them, then put the stalks into a deep pan of water and bring to the boil. Add the peppercorns and bay leaves. Roughly chop the parsley leaves.
Once the water is boiling, salt it then pop in the langoustines. Let them boil away merrily for about 4 minutes then drain. Put the cooked langoustines onto plates then drizzle them with olive oil and scatter with parsley and sea salt, squeezing over lemon juice.
Under 20 minutes
Lime and parsley squid
A seriously punchy mixture of charcoal flavours given a hit of lime and red chillies. A wake-up call when eaten with hot green leaves such as watercress or rocket and surprisingly soothing when stirred through a small bowl of white rice. If you are taking the rice route you will need about 180g of white basmati for two. Put the rice on to cook, just covered with water and seasoned only with salt, a good 15 minutes or so before you start to grill the squid.
Serves 2
squid, cleaned and prepared - 300g
olive oil - 4 tbs
flat-leaf parsley - a small bunch
coriander - a small bunch
hot red chillies - a couple
the juice of 2 limes
white rice and/or salad leaves, to serve
Cut the squid into thick rings. Rinse and pat dry. Pour the olive oil into a mixing bowl. Chop the parsley leaves and the coriander. I tend to prefer this kept on the rough side. Chop the chillies quite finely, removing the seeds if you want something less than vibrantly hot, then mix them with the olive oil and the herbs and add a good grinding of both salt and black pepper.
Put the squid onto a hot grill or ridged grill pan, season with salt, the lime juice and black pepper, and leave to cook for a minute on each side. Toss the hot squid with the parsley sauce and serve with the rice or salad, folding the juices through the rice or leaves as you eat.
Under 20 minutes
Squid with sweet spices, basil and tomato
Sweet paprika adds depth to a spice mixture of ground cumin and coriander, making a flavouring that is more about fragrance than pure heat, sweet and heady with cayenne. I make up a small mixture at a time, enough for a dish or two, and keep it in a screwtop jar in the cupboard.
Serves 2
squid - 2 large, cleaned
garlic - 2 cloves
olive oil - 4 tbs
tomatoes - 500g
saffron - a pinch
spice mixture (below) - 2-3 tsp
juice of a lime
whole basil leaves - a large handful
parsley - 1 tbs
crusty sourdough or ciabatta bread, to serve
for the spice mix:
ground cumin - 1 tbs
ground coriander - 1 tbs
sweet paprika - 1 tbs
ground red chilli - 1 tsp
To make the spice mix, simply stir together the cumin, coriander, paprika and chilli.
Slice open the body sacks of the squid and rinse thoroughly. Score each one with the point of a knife, diagonally at 1cm widths, then turn and do the same the other way, to give a lattice pattern. It will help the squid cook tenderly. Trim the tentacles of any exceptionally long bits.
Peel and crush the garlic. Warm it in a shallow pan with half of the olive oil. As soon as it starts to simmer and the garlic wafts appetisingly, drop in the squid and let it sizzle for a minute or two, no longer. Remove with a draining spoon and leave in a bowl.
Pour the remaining olive oil into the pan, chop the tomatoes and put them in with the saffron and the spice mix. Leave to simmer, stirring occasionally, for a good 7-10 minutes until the tomatoes have relaxed.
Stir in the lime juice, basil and parsley. Grind in a little salt and when all is bubbling return the squid to the pan. Cook very briefly then eat with crusty bread to mop up the rusty scarlet sauce from the plate.
