Seeing fresh squid tubes on a recent shopping trip inspired this meal.
For 4 squid tubes, you will need 300g (10½ oz) raw prawn meat. Place half of this in a food processor and process to a fine sticky paste. Add the rest of the prawn meat, 1 finely diced clove of garlic, a few sprigs of basil leaves, a handful of walnuts, a drizzle of olive oil, 2-3 anchovy fillets and salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste and pulse until everything is well blended but still has some chunks in it. To this mixture add 1 grated zucchini and mix well by hand. Take the cleaned squid tubes and close the smaller ends by threading small skewers or toothpicks through them. Fill with the prawn mixture and close the large ends in the same way as the small.
For the sauce, purée ½ a cup of tomato passata or tinned tomatoes with a small diced onion, 2-3 roasted red peppers (these can be from a jar), 2-3 anchovy fillets and salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Add a generous amount of olive oil and cook this mixture in a shallow pan for 20 minutes. Heat some olive oil in a fry-pan and flash fry the squid tubes briefly. Place them into the sauce and spoon some sauce over them. Cook them on low heat for 20 minutes, turning them once after 10 minutes. To accompany my squid tubes I served sliced fennel and asparagus tossed in olive oil, lemon juice, salt and freshly ground black pepper and cooked in a closed pan.
michelle picker cooks 