This recipe is Turkish in origin and from a cookbook by Ghillie Basan. It’s the perfect winter stew as it has lots of spicy flavours and the red wine turns the squid a lovely dark aubergine colour. I have replaced the sugar with maple syrup so it’s a bit healthier. You can cook it in advance and reheat it later, if you want to do hassle free entertaining. I serve mine with roasted sourdough bread or basmati rice and a salad and pretend I’m on holiday.

Ingredients:

300ml red wine
2-3 tablespoons of olive oil
2 red onions finely chopped
3-4 garlic cloves minced
750g of fresh squid cut into thick rings and keeping the heads
4 tablespoons of pitted black olives (I use Moroccan olives and pit them myself)
1-2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon
1-2 teaspoons of maple syrup
2 bay leaves
1 small bunch of parsley finely chopped
1 small bunch of dill finely chopped
salt and pepper to taste
lemon wedges to serve

How:

Heat the oil in a big pan and cook the onions and garlic till golden.

Next add the squid heads and rings and stir fry for a couple of minutes. Add the bay leaves, olives, maple syrup and cinnamon and pour in the red wine. Bring to the boil, then lower the heat and cover with a lid. Cook gently for about 40 minutes until the squid is tender. Check the seasoning and dish up with the lemon wedges and a sprinkling of the parsley and dill.

I shop at:
Waitrose
Sainsbury’s
Tesco
Lidl