Ingredients for the meatballs (serves 4 or 5)
- 800 grams of fresh, cleaned cuttlefish or squid
- 1 large clove of garlic
- 1 egg
- Fresh parsley
- salt
- 2 tablespoons of breadcrumbs
- Flour
Ingredients for the sauce
- 1 medium spring onion
- 1 green pepper
- Half a red bell pepper, the kind used for roasting
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 150 ml of white wine
- Extra virgin olive oil
- A few strands of saffron
- Laurel
- Fish stock (700 ml)
- Pepper
Cooking the meatballs
- First, let's clean the cuttlefish thoroughly. It's very important that they've drained all the water well. You can dry them with paper towels.
- Now, cut the cuttlefish into strips, put them in a food processor along with the peeled and sliced garlic clove and a teaspoon of salt. Process for a few minutes until it's in small pieces. If you don't have a food processor, you can chop it into very small pieces with a knife.
- Next, once the meat is chopped, transfer it to a bowl, add the chopped fresh parsley and the beaten egg. Mix everything well and add the breadcrumbs. Mix again to thoroughly combine all the ingredients.
- We cover the bowl with cling film and put it in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to allow the dough to firm up.
- Once that time has passed, we will shape them, coat them in flour, and fry them in a little oil for a minute on each side. We remove the meatballs and set them aside.
Cooking the sauce
- Next, we dice the onion, the green pepper, the piece of red pepper and 2 cloves of garlic.
- In the same oil we used to fry the meatballs, we heat it over medium heat and sauté the chopped vegetables.
- We also add a pinch of salt, some bay leaves and keep it over medium heat until we see that everything is well softened.
- Add the glass of wine and let it evaporate over high heat for about 3 or 4 minutes.
- Then, once the wine has evaporated, we add the fish stock.. If you don't have fish stock, add water. If you add water, you should also add a little salt.
- Next, place a few strands of saffron in a mortar and pestle and crush them. Add a splash of hot water. Stir and pour it directly into the pot. This will give aroma and color to our recipe.
- Finally, when the broth comes to a boil, add the reserved meatballs and simmer, covered, over medium heat for about 20 minutes, until the broth has reduced and you're left with a thin sauce. You can leave it with a thicker or thinner sauce, as you prefer.
This dish is served with fried potatoes, preferably diced, or cooked rice.
