Recipe: Squid Pie (2 recipes) and Scallop, Pollack and Squid Pie

SQUID PIE
Source: Ray Magliozzi/Cartalk.com
Serves 4

This is an old Magliozzi family recipe, handed down from my grandmother to my mother to me. It always occupied a warm spot in our hearts-especially since it was the only one
that wasn't responsible for killing off any family members.

Pizza dough (enough for two 12-inch pizzas)
2 pounds fresh squid, cleaned
3/4 cup black olives, chopped
3/4 cup Italian parsley, chopped
3 large fresh tomatoes, chopped
5 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
Olive oil (for the top)

In a large saucepan of boiling water, cook the squid for 5 minutes. Drain it and chop into small pieces. In a bowl combine the squid, olives, parsley, tomatoes, garlic, oil, crushed red pepper, and salt. Cover and marinate overnight in the fridge.

THE NEXT DAY:
Set the oven at 400 degrees. Oil a 12-inch shallow baking dish.

Roll out half the dough and line the pan with it.

Drain stuffing. This is important: Get rid of all the liquid or the bottom will get soggy. Put stuffing on the dough.

Roll out the other piece of dough and cover the stuffing. Crimp the edges as you would a pie. Cut a few ventilation holes in the top so it doesn't explode. Rub some olive oil on your hands and pat on top.

Transfer the pie to the oven. It's done when the top and the bottom crusts are a golden brown, about 30 to 35 minutes (if it turns black, you blew it). Cool for 15 minutes before
eating (if you can wait that long!)

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SQUID PIES
Source: http://www.cuisine.com.au
Chef: Stephanie Alexander
Source: The Age, Tuesday May 2, 2006
This recipes is featured in the book, Autumn
Makes 4 x 12cm tartlets.

"Here is the recipe for a delicious pie I discovered in the town of Sete, near Marseilles. These tielles setoises, as they are known, are delicious picnic food eaten cold. I have made them many times since serving them warm, or even hot. This recipe is from the Cook's Companion by Stephanie Alexander. Cook it fast or cook it slow - either way, calamari and squid end up a tender surprise."

For the pastry cases:
400g plain flour
1/2 tsp salt
3 tbsp olive oil
1 cup cold water

For the filling:
1 kg squid (850g once cleaned)
extra virgin olive oil
2 large onions, chopped
1 bay leaf
1 sprig rosemary
1/2 fennel bulb, finely sliced
1/2 tsp saffron threads
6 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 fresh hot chilli, halved and seeded
sea salt
1/2 cup tomato paste and 1/2 cup of hot water (or 1 cup well-reduced tomato sauce)
200ml dry white wine

TO PRPEARE THE PASTRY CASES:
Place flour and salt in a food processor. Mix oil with water and with motor running drizzle in the liquid. Process until mixture forms a ball.

Transfer to floured surface and knead for 2-3 minutes until dough feels supple and smooth. Put into a bowl, cover and refrigerate for at least an hour.

Divide into 8 pieces. Roll each piece thinly on a well-floured surface to a round of about 12-14cm. Fit half the shapes into tartlet tins.

TO PREPARE THE FILLING:
Slice squid bodies and cut tentacles into pieces 6cm long. - Heat 1/4 cup of the oil in a large frying-pan at least 7cm deep (or an enamelled casserole with lid) and saute onion, bay leaf and rosemary until onion is quite soft. Add fennel, saffron, garlic and pepper and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Increase heat and stir in squid. Add chilli and season with salt, then stir for 5 minutes before adding the wine and the tomato paste and water (or tomato sauce).

Lower heat, cover with a lid or foil and cook for about an hour until squid is very tender. (This can be done in the oven at 180C.) Uncover and test squid. If mixture is at all sloppy, raise heat and boil to reduce, stirring. The aim is a thick, moist mix without obvious liquid. Taste for seasoning and remove chilli if sufficiently spicy or alternatively, chop it roughly and leave it in. Cool.

Heat oven to 200C.

Transfer mix in batches to food processor and pulse-chop until chunky.

TO ASSEMBLE AND BAKE:
Spoon into pastry-lined tartlet tins. Brush inside of pastry edge with water, settle the tops on and seal really well. Make a small slit in each tartlet with a sharp knife.

Brush with extra virgin olive oil, or for a glossier finish, a lightly beaten egg yolk. Scatter with a few grains of sea salt. Bake for 10 minutes and then reduce to 180C and bake for a further 15 minutes or so until pastry is golden. Allow tartlets to cool a little before serving.

They are good hot, warm or cold.

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SCALLOP, POLLACK AND SQUID PIE
Source: Astry
Makes 6 servings

1 kilograms Pollack; skinned and filleted
300 millilitres Milk; up to 450
1 kilograms Potatoes
1 tablespoon Olive oil
225 grams Baby squid; cleaned and cut into rings
White parts of 2 leeks, chopped
1 large Glass of dry white wine or vermouth
A bunch of fresh dill, chopped
25 grams Butter
25 grams Plain flour
1 Bayleaf
Grated nutmeg
Salt and pepper
12 Fat scallops with large corals

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas 4.

Put the pieces of pollack in a gratin dish with 300ml of the milk and a knob of butter and bake for 15 minutes.

Turn the fish into a deeper baking dish, flaking it gently and extracting any bones, but keeping it in largish bits. Reserve the cooking liquid. Boil the potatoes, and mash thoroughly.

While the pollack is cooking, gently heat the oil in a saucepan and cook the squid until barely translucent. Add the leeks and cook for a further 203 minutes, then add the wine or vermouth. Bring to simmering point, cover and simmer gently for 10-15 minutes. Throw in a generous amount of chopped dill and take the pan off the heat. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the squid and leeks to the dish with the pollack, reserving the liquid.

Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the flour and cook, stirring for 1 minute. Add the bayleaf and a good pinch of nutmeg, and gradually stir in the liquid from the pollack to make a bechamel sauce. Remove from the heat and stir in the wine and dill from the squid mixture. Add more milk if you like a heavily sauced pie, but keep the mixture quite thick. Taste and adjust the seasoning, then pour the sauce over the fish.

Prepare the scallops, slicing the white parts into two or three discs, depending on their thickness, and leaving the corals whole unless they are really huge. The secret of this pie is to add the scallops raw to the cooked fish at this point.

Top the pie with mashed potato and cook in the oven for 15-20 minutes, until browned and bubbling on top. The scallops will be just cooked, and exuding their flavour, without having set firmly or breaking up.