Whole Roasted Squid With Tomatillo Salsa
- Total Time
- 1 hour
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- ¾pound tomatillos, husks removed, halved or quartered (about 3 cups)
- 1jalapeño, halved lengthwise, then cut in large chunks
- 2cups roughly chopped cilantro leaves and tender stems, packed
- ½teaspoon salt
- 2tablespoons lime juice
- 1½pounds very small boiling potatoes
- Salt and pepper
- 4large poblano chiles
- 2pounds cleaned small squid
- 3tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, more as necessary
- 3medium avocados, cut into thick slices or chunks
- 1medium red onion, thinly sliced
- ½pound cherry tomatoes, halved
- Cilantro sprigs, for garnish (optional)
- Thinly sliced jalapeño, for garnish (optional)
- Lime wedges, for serving
- Warm corn tortillas, for serving (optional)
For the Salsa
For the Squid
Preparation
- Step 1
Make the salsa: Put the tomatillos, jalapeño, cilantro, salt and lime juice in a food processor or blender. Pulse until all components come together to make a rough purée. Transfer salsa to a serving dish.
- Step 2
Wash potatoes, put in a small pot, cover with 1 inch of water, add a teaspoon of salt and cook at a brisk simmer, covered, over medium heat for 10 to 15 minutes. When done, drain and set aside until cool enough to handle, then cut in half with a small sharp knife (leave skins on).
- Step 3
Meanwhile, roast the poblanos: Place whole chiles directly on flames of a full-blast stovetop burner, turning with tongs frequently until blackened and blistered all over. Alternatively, blacken chiles on a sheet pan as close to broiler as possible or on a grill over coals. Set aside to cool on a plate (do not wrap in plastic film — you want the chile flesh to stay firm).
- Step 4
To clean poblanos, wipe off their charred skin with paper towels or the back of a knife. Do not rinse; a few bits of char is O.K. Cut chiles lengthwise in half and scrape out seed and veins with knife. Cut chiles lengthwise into ⅜-inch-wide strips and set aside.
- Step 5
Heat oven to 450 degrees. Rinse squid and drain well. Pat dry on layers of paper towel or cloth kitchen towel. Transfer squid bodies to a sheet pan in one layer. Arrange tentacles on a smaller baking sheet. Season bodies generously on both sides with salt and pepper, and season tentacles. Drizzle 2 tablespoons olive oil evenly over squid bodies and 1 tablespoon olive oil over tentacles. Place baking sheets in oven and roast until bodies have puffed and tentacles have firmed, about 6 to 8 minutes. (Alternatively, cook squid in batches in a cast-iron pan over high heat or on a grill over coals.)
- Step 6
To assemble the room-temperature salad, arrange potatoes on a large platter. Distribute the squid over potatoes, then scatter poblano strips, avocado, sliced onion and cherry tomatoes over squid. Sprinkle lightly with salt and drizzle with a little more olive oil, if desired. Add cilantro sprigs and jalapeño slices, if using, and garnish with lime wedges. Serve the salsa at the table, to be spooned over each serving, and warm tortillas, if desired.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
Why are we cooking the bodies and tentacles on separate pans? I don’t expected to see different cooking times but that’s not the case.
There are not very many flavors in this world as good as tomatillo salsa. I will plant a crop of tomatillos next year just to try this delicious recipe again (they are so easy to grow). But I'll do a few of the steps, like making the salsa and boiling/cutting up the potatoes ahead of time, to reduce the number of steps needed to plate and serve. So good, though - thank you!
If you get the squid whole (i.e. not cleaned) and have to do it yourself, no worries, it's actually kind of fun. If a little gross. Just make sure to pull ALL the quill out of the tube, and squeeze ALL the jelly out. And make sure there's no beak in the tentacles! There's something in the jelly that really irritates the skin on my hands though. I just deal with it, but it might not be a bad idea to use latex or nitrile gloves.
Wow, even food writers are not spared. Try it, you might like it. And yes, those are squid tentacles, not baby octopus (octopi? octopuses?)
That’s a baby octopus in the picture, not a squid.
Looks like a squid to me!
Gosh I am sorry but disagree. Tomatillos completely change flavor and sweetness level if charred or cooked in anyway. So it would change the flavor of this salsa dramatically. Poblanos or other peppers cook too much if placed in a plastic bag...and really we shouldn’t be using plastic bags at all...If the pepper has been properly charred the removal is just as easy. AND you want firm flesh. Serrano vs jalapeño ? A garlic clove? So hello! You are making a DIFFERENT recipe.
raw tomate is not great for salsa. Boil or char on skillet until skin breaks then place in blender. Also serranos in place of jalapeño, plus one garlic clove. Also DO place poblanos in plastic bag after cooking, the chore of removing the wax coating is much easier after steaming in bag.
You, sir/ma'am, know what you're talking about.
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