Recipe: Portuguese Squid

I love Portugal. I normally go to my favourite little spot in the Algarve but in 2018 I did a tour of the Douro Valley, taking in Porto and Lisbon. I had this dish in a café while I was in that area. It's a very simple dish but if done with care and attention, it's a total winner.

Ingredients

2-3 Squid Tubes, cleaned and all membrane removed (per person)

2 tbsp. of good Extra-Virgin Olive Oil

1 Fat Clove of Garlic thinly sliced

3-4 small New Potatoes (per person) scrubbed clean but with skin left on

Salt and Black pepper to taste

Finely chopped coriander and lemon to serve

Method

Heat the oven to 200 degrees (Gas mark 8) and bake the new potatoes until tender and nicely gnarled on the outside. Slice each potato in two and season the cut side with a little salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Dry the squid with paper towel if necessary and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper on both sides.

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over a medium heat until it comes up to frying temperature and place in the potatoes cut side down and fry until slightly crispy and browned. Remove them from the pan and turn the heat up.

Throw in the sliced garlic, quickly followed by the squid and sauté the squid for approximately 1 minute on each side whilst the garlic quickly browns.

When the squid is cooked, turn out the potatoes and squid onto a plate, along with the olive oil and fried garlic as a sauce, and garnish with the chopped coriander and a squeeze of lemon juice. I normally serve this with a steamed green vegetable such as broccoli or green beans.