Vegetable-stuffed Squid over Black Rice Polenta

Clean the squid well under running water, remove the tentacles and set aside. Trim the lacinato kale, eliminating the central rib. Chop it and cook it in salted boiling water with 1 bay leaf for 3 minutes. Strain the kale, keeping the cooking water. Peel the potatoes, cut them into thin slices and blanch them for 3 minutes in the kale cooking water.

Cut the squash, removing its seeds and rind, then cut it into chunks; chop the onion. Briefly sauté the chopped onion in a saucepan with 2 tablespoons of oil, add the squash, a pinch of salt, a bay leaf, a ladle of broth and a pinch of white pepper and cook for 15 minutes, covered. Then add the kale, potatoes and a ladle of their cooking water. Continue to cook over high heat for another 5 minutes, then make the vegetables creamy by adding a tablespoon of grated Pecorino cheese and some freshly ground pepper and let cool. This is your stuffing.

Stuff the squid with 2 tablespoons each and seal with the tentacles, fastening them with a toothpick. Brown the stuffed squid over high heat in a saucepan with a little bit of oil for 1 minute per side, then lower the heat to low, add a tablespoon of grated Pecorino cheese, 2 ladles of the kale/potato cooking water and cook for 40 minutes. Bring a quart of water to a boil, add a little oil, a pinch of salt and the black rice flour; stir with a whisk and cook for 15 minutes to make your polenta. Put the rice polenta on a serving dish, place the stuffed squid on top and serve.