Grilled Squid Stuffed with Lamb Sausage

I hadn’t cooked this dish for a while, then my friend Roni reminded me of it when I was gathering recipes for this book, as it’s one of her favorites. The squid provides a fresh contrast to the spiced lamb mix with a subtle hint of the sea. Caraway seeds have an earthy flavour that goes perfectly with the meat. This is a very interesting and rewarding way of cooking squid, and I’ve been preparing it like this for 20 years.

GRILLED SQUID STUFFED WITH SPICED LAMB SAUSAGE

SERVES 4

INGREDIENTS:

500 g (1 lb 2 oz) whole squid (cleaned as on page 116 [in the book], and keep the tenacles)

vegetable oil, for brushing

sea salt

Classic Tahini (page 60) [in the book] or shop-bought, to serve

For the spiced lamb sausage stuffing:

150 g (5 ½ oz) stale sourdough

200 ml (7 fl oz) milk

500 g (1 lb 2 oz) minced (ground) lamb

15 g (½ oz) sweet paprika

12 g (½ oz) caraway seeds, finely ground

¼ teaspoon hot chilli powder

4 garlic, crushed

50 g (1¾ oz) flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped

8 g (¼ oz) sea salt

DIRECTIONS:

First, in a bowl, soak the sourdough in the milk for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 180C (350F/gas 4).

Squeeze out the excess milk from the bread then add the remaining stuffing ingredients to the bowl and mix until well incorporated. Pan-fry a small quantity of the mixture to check the seasoning. If the seasoning is right, fill the squid tubes with the stuffing mixture until they are three-quarters full.

Prepare a charcoal grill or heat a griddle pan (skillet) over a high heat. If using a griddle pan, then brush it with a little olive oil.

Season the stuffed squid with a little of salt on the outside, then grill for 3–4 minutes on each side. Transfer to a baking tray, then finish cooking in the oven for 6 minutes. To serve, slice the squid and arrange on top of some tahini.

Excerpted with permission from Oren by Oren Oded published by Hardie Grant, October 2020, RRP $40.00 Hardcover.

You can order it here.