CUTTLEFISH WITH POTATOES AND GREEN BEANS - SIPIA AMB PATATES I MONGETA TENDRA

This is a very traditional Catalan dish that it is usually served with peas instead of green beans and even sometimes with artichokes. A bit of dark chocolate added to the sauce, helps with the thickening and the colour. Each family seems to have their own recipe. I added the chillies and the extra garlic cloves to this recipe. In Catalonia cuttlefish is quite expensive nowadays, but in the past, that wasn't the case and therefore it was considered 'peasant' food. Many fishermen would cook it on the boats to have a nice meal. Some people add a bit of all i oli on top before serving. It's certainly a very delicious dish and the sauce was amazing.

Ingredients

2 big cuttlefish

600g red pontiac potatoes

250g green beans

4 onions

3 tomatoes

2 whole Chilli Bird’s Eye

1,200 ml fish stock

5 sprigs of parsley

1 garlic bulb

1 handful of toasted almonds

2 garlic cloves, extra

15-20g dark chocolate, grated

a good dash of brandy

extras virgin olive oil

salt

black pepper

Method

Clean the cuttlefish, and cut it into bite-sized pieces and sauté them in a saucepan with extra virgin olive oil. When they start to kick, take them out and reserve.

Chop the onion and cook it in the same pan, stirring often until you get a nice brown colour.

Add the garlic bulb cut in half horizontally, together with 2 tablespoons of cuttlefish spleen and a little water. Let it simmer under low heat for a while.

Grate the tomatoes over a colander to avoid the seeds. Add the pulp to the pan.

When the tomatoes lose color, add the reserved cuttlefish and, when the juice is absorbed, turn up the heat and add a splash of brandy. Stir it well and let the alcohol evaporate.

Add the potatoes, peeled and cut to medium size. Pour in the boiling fish stock, along with the whole parsley sprigs, and let it simmer for 30 minutes.

Add a bit of salt in a mortar and mash the almonds and the extra garlic cloves. Once they have the consistency of a paste, add the grated chocolate, chop everything together and add it to the pan. Shake the pan for a while so that the sauce starts to bind and thicken.

Cut the beans into very thin strips and add them to the pan; let it cook for about 3 more minutes. Check the seasoning and add some salt and pepper if necessary.

Chop some parsley leaves and add them to the pan before serving. (I forgot to do that!)

Serves 4

Note:

Being a stew, it's best to let it sit for a minimum of 6 hours so it's at its best. You can make the recipe the day before and just reheat before serving.

Here is a link to see the video of the recipe where you can see how the cuttlefish are cleaned and also where the spleen is in the fish.

I have tried to add English subtitles and it worked, but once I have saved it here they disappeared and now has Catalan subtitles. It is easy to change it by choosing to watch the video on YouTube and then going to settings and clicking Subtitles: Catalan to English.

Comments

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