In short. Small cuttlefish filled with a stuffing of stale bread, egg, pecorino, anchovy and capers, closed with a toothpick and roasted in a very hot oven.
The stuffing is a small lesson in Apulian cooking on its own: bread that would otherwise be thrown away, one salted anchovy for depth, and a generous hand with the pecorino.
Ingredients
- 1 kg of small cuttlefish
- stale bread, dampened with milk
- 2 eggs
- 1 salted anchovy, washed and boned
- capers
- about 2 tablespoons of grated Apulian pecorino
- parsley, garlic, extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper
Method
1. The stuffing. Mix the dampened bread with the eggs, parsley, garlic, the anchovy, the capers, salt, pepper and the grated cheese.
2. The cuttlefish. Clean them, removing the skin and the internal bone, and wash them.
3. Filling. Fill each one with the mixture and close the opening well with toothpicks or kitchen string.
4. Roasting. Oil a baking tin, lay the cuttlefish in the centre and cook in a very hot oven.
A variation. The same stuffing works with a large squid, cut into slices to serve — which some people around here insist is better than the cuttlefish.
More on the second courses page.
