CIN CIN AT HOME: Salad of soused cuttlefish, radicchio & pangrattato

Recreate this delicious Italian salad at home with this recipe from our Head Chef, Jamie Halsall, the perfect starter to any meal, particularly at this wintry time of the year.

Ingredients

1 cuttle fish cleaned
3 banana shallots peeled
5 cloves of garlic peeled
1 thumb size piece of ginger peeled
1 red chilli cut in half and dee seeded
150ml white wine vinegar
150ml white wine (use a nice bottle and drink the rest!)
50g sugar
Salt and pepper
2 tsp Lillieput capers

Method

To prep the cuttlefish, start with the legs – cut these off below where it connects to the body. If particularly large then cut these in half to make it easier to eat. Then cut the main body in half down the middle, and score with a knife (only cutting down half way through the flesh). Next cut the main body into bite sized triangles and add to the legs. Wash under a cold tap for 5 minutes to get rid of any grit.

Slice the shallots as finely as you can into rings. Slice the garlic as thinly as you can. Add to a gently warmed medium pan with a generous drizzle of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Sweat slowly (don’t allow it to burn) whilst you prepare the ginger and chilli.

Brunoise the ginger and chilli (cut into very fine dice) and add to the pan. Continue to cook gently for a few more minutes.

Deglaze with the white wine, vinegar and sugar. Bring up to a simmer then carefully place the washed cuttlefish in the pan. Cover with a lid and very very lightly simmer for around an hour until the cuttlefish is tender. Once cooked, chill down as quickly as possible to stop it overcooking.

Before serving add the capers, a touch of lemon juice and adjust the seasoning to your taste.

Serve with freshly dressed radicchio (we use Castelfranco for its beautiful pale green and pink leaves) and either some croutons or breadcrumbs that have been toasted in olive oil.