This stuffed cuttlefish recipe comes from Miranda Truppi, the mother of a dear friend of mine. She's an excellent cook from Puglia who always made the most irresistible and delicious Mediterranean-inspired dishes, such as this one.
Nonna's Stuffed Cuttlefish
Photo: Riccardo Lettieri, Styling: Beatrice Prada
Skill Level: Intermediate
Cooking Time: 1 hour and 30 minutes
Ingredients for 4
2¼ lb. or 4 cuttlefish (1 kg.)
4 oz. breadcrumbs (100 g.)
6 dried cherry tomatoes
3 slices of bread
2 lemons
1 shallot
fresh mint
desalted capers
milk
dry white wine
extra virgin olive oil
salt
pepper
Remove the crust from the bread and let it soften in a little milk.
Clean the cuttlefish, separating the tentacles from the sacs. Chop the shallot, the tentacles, the capers, and the dried cherry tomatoes, and keep separate.
Brown the chopped shallot in a pan with a drizzle of oil. Add the tentacles and cook for 5 minutes.
Deglaze with a splash of wine, then add the capers and cherry tomatoes and cook for another 5-10 minutes. If the ingredients dry out too much while cooking, dampen them with a little hot water.
Remove from the heat, pour everything into a bowl, and let cool.
Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C.
Meanwhile, sear the cuttlefish sacs in the same pan for 1 minute per side. Mix the tentacles with the lightly squeezed bread, salt, pepper, and the grated zest of 1 lemon.
Fill the cuttlefish sacs with the cooked mixture. Fasten the cuttlefish closed with a toothpick and arrange them on a baking tray covered with parchment paper.
Grease them with a drizzle of oil and bake for 15-20 minutes.
Brown the breadcrumbs in a pan with a drizzle of oil, a few mint leaves, and the zest of 1 lemon. Sprinkle the breadcrumbs on the cuttlefish about 3-5 minutes before the end of cooking.