Raw baby cuttlefish, almond and lemon

Not yet rated

This beguiling baby cuttlefish recipe from Angelo Sabatelli is full of surprises. A sheet of 'paper' made from cuttlefish and egg white is draped over the raw baby cuttlefish, before being sprinkled with a 'sea liquorice' made of squid ink and seaweed.

First published in 2016

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Baby cuttlefish

'Sea liquorice'

  • 1 shallot, chopped
  • 1 tbsp of cuttlefish ink
  • 50g of nori seaweed, finely chopped
  • 50g of sea urchin, flesh weight
  • oil

Almond cream

Candied lemon

Cuttlefish 'paper'

Equipment

  • Blender
  • Silicone baking mat
  • Dehydrator
  • Pacojet
  • Vacuum bags 2
  • Chamber sealer
  • Water bath

Method

1
To begin, make the 'sea liquorice'. Sweat the shallots in a pan until soft in a dash of oil, then add the cuttlefish ink and seaweed and continue to fry. Once cooked and thickened, remove from the heat and stir in the sea urchin. Transfer to a blender and blitz until smooth and combined
  • oil
  • 1 shallot, chopped
  • 1 tbsp of cuttlefish ink
  • 50g of nori seaweed
  • 50g of sea urchin
2
Spread the paste onto a silicone baking mat and place in a dehydrator at 60°C for 6 hours
3
To make the white almond cream, freeze the nuts and water in a Pacojet container then process. Repeat this 3 times
4
To make the candied lemon, boil the peel 3 times in water, replacing the water each time
5
Add 100g of water to a pan with the lemon juice and sugar, bring to the boil and add the lemon peel. Cook until the liquid is syrupy, then remove the peel and cut into a julienne
6
Preheat a waterbath to 65°C
7
To make the cuttlefish 'paper', add the egg whites and cuttlefish to a food processor and blitz until very smooth. Pass through a fine sieve to remove any lumps
8
Divide between 2 vacuum bags and seal in a chamber sealer. Flatten out the mixture so you are left with 2 rectangles within the bags
9
Cook in the waterbath for 6 minutes, then cool in a bowl of iced water. Carefully remove from the bags and cut into 4 uniform rectangles
10
To prepare the cuttlefish, pull the heads from the bodies and wash well, pulling out the hard cartilage from the bodies. Remove the beaks from the heads cut the heads and bodies in half
11
To serve, place a spoonful of the almond cream on each plate and place half a cuttlefish body and half a cuttlefish head on top
12
Season with candied lemon, top with a layer of the cuttlefish paper and sprinkle over the sea liquorice. Serve with a little more candied lemon on the side

It took Angelo Sabatelli a good few years working around the world to realise his true calling was to cook the traditional cuisine of Puglia, but when he returned home to open his first restaurant, the wait was worth it. His technical excellence and expertise transforms the region’s dishes into Michelin-starred masterpieces.

Get in touch

Please sign in or register to send a comment to Great British Chefs.

You may also like

Load more