BBQ SQUID IS A THING OF MAGIC.
A big claim, but a true one. I love squid in many guises. Deep-fried in a crispy coating, stuffed and gently poached or quickly pan fried, but something happens when the marble-like white flesh hits the coals that’s untouchable by any of these other cooking methods.
If you’re into squid, seafood or just BBQ action generally, give these a go. Actually, even if you’re not into squid you’ve got to give them a try. The scent that comes off the BBQ as they cook is one that’ll remind you of tropical beach holidays and the taste is deliciously and delicately of the sea.
By concertina-ing them you get to keep the whole tubes together, this makes them easier and faster to cook and gets the divine charred BBQ scents all over them, plus visually they look really special.
I tend to buy them from Asian supermarkets in the freezer section. They come totally cleaned and ready to use, and with around 6 large ones in a bag for about £4 or £5 they’re an economical choice.
Dressing wise these ones got the extra virgin, parsley, lemon and garlic treatment, but you could make up dressings of all kinds to spoon over the second they come off the heat – why not try making one with lime, ginger and chilli, or basil, lemon and chilli. And when it comes to what to eat them with, we chose a simple tomato salad doused in a mustard vinaigrette and topped with fresh oregano.
For two greedy folk
- 5 or 6 large white completely cleaned squid tubes, defrosted if they were frozen
- 1 large clove of garlic, finely minced
- Juice of 1 juicy lemon
- Same quantity of extra virgin olive oil as lemon juice
- A small handful fresh parsley, finely chopped
- Sea salt
- A little ground salt / table salt
- Black pepper
- Cooking olive oil
Method
- Combine the garlic, lemon, parsley, olive oil and a scrunch of sea salt and grind of black pepper in a bowl and mix thoroughly.
- Take the squid tubes and cut them into the concertina, you can see from the pic this is easy enough, just cut into them but not to the very edge on one side, and alternate the sides you do this with all the way along.
- Pour some olive oil on the squid and coat them gently, then lightly sprinkle with a little table salt, before placing them into a seafood clamp for the BBQ (invaluable, stops your nosh falling through the bars straight onto the coals).
- Cook on the BBQ with the lid on when the coals have just turned white, we did these for around 6 minutes each side – the squid we used are reasonably thick and on the BBQ when cooked with a lid on they keep nice and juicy even if they’re cooked for a bit longer than you would on the hob, but if you use thinner skinned squid just bring the cooking time down slightly.
- Take them off the heat and place into a bowl, then spoon over the lemon and garlic dressing. Then devour, and wonder if there’s a way you can eat them at least twice a week.