Meatloaf with cuttlefish. Mandonguilles amb sipia

How to make cuttlefish dumplings . Within the fish recipes of the varied gastro repertoire of our country, we can say that each community has its particularities and its own recipes that give it its personality.

Today’s recipe, cuttlefish meatballs , is a classic of Catalan cuisine, the Catalan cuina .

This recipe for sea and mountains, the mandonguilles amb Sípia , is one that is always prepared at home with the recipe of a grandmother or a mother, a dish of a lifetime. If you like grilled cuttlefish , here you will find similar flavors that you will love at home.

Ferran Adrià made these types of dishes fashionable again, as if it were a truly novel contribution, although it was present in many houses in Spain.

This contribution focused on dishes that mixed meat, seafood, pork trotters, mushrooms, … although this model of cuisine called “Mar y Montaña” or “Mar i muntanya” and which seemed so avant-garde is based on cuisine traditional Catalan.

I leave you the recipe that I have prepared this weekend with my mother-in-law who, despite not being Catalan, is a great cook. The result has been vice, I assure you, a recipe to write in the essential book.

Preparation of the base mass of the meatballs with cuttlefish

1. If we use almonds with skin, the first thing we do is peel them before toasting them. For this we blanch them for a few seconds in boiling water and thus we can remove the skin very easily.
2. We dry the almonds with a kitchen paper and put them in a frying pan without oil. We roast the almonds for a few minutes over medium heat, stirring them constantly so that they do not burn. We reserve.
3. In a cup we soak the breadcrumb with the milk until it is completely soaked. We reserve until the moment of using it. We will not use the excess milk.
4. In a bowl mix the minced beef, 2 minced garlic cloves, salt, pepper, egg and the breadcrumb well drained from the milk. With a fork we mix all the ingredients well to form a well-combined paste.

Preparation of the meatballs with cuttlefish. Shape and molding

1. With our hands we form balls of the same size and we coat them in flour.
2. If we are going to prepare the meatballs a little before the time to fry them, the ideal is that, just before adding them to the oil, we will coat them in flour again. Since this will have been absorbed by the juice of the meat balls.
3. In a frying pan, heat plenty of extra virgin olive oil. We fry the meatballs in several batches, cooking them several minutes on each side.
4. We remove to a tray with adsorbent paper to remove the rest of the oil and reserve.
5. We clean the cuttlefish, if it is fresh, removing any remaining viscera.
6. We remove the dark outer skin and the thin curtain that covers it on both sides. By removing this rib we will get a much more tender cuttlefish at the end of the stew. Cut the cuttlefish into cubes.

Preparation of the meatballs with cuttlefish. Final presentation

1. We put a wide casserole on the fire without oil, when it is hot we add the chopped cuttlefish.
2. The idea is that this way it evaporates into the water it may have before proceeding to fry it.
3. If the cuttlefish is fresh, it will have little water. Although if we use a frozen specimen, it will surely drop a lot and that would harm us in the frying.
4. When the water has evaporated, add a splash of olive oil to the casserole and fry the cuttlefish. We withdraw and reserve.
5. In the same casserole we incorporate again a jet of extra virgin olive oil. We heat it, add the peeled and chopped onion and fry until the onion begins to soften.
6. While we cook the onion we make a mash in the mortar with 2 chopped garlic cloves, parsley, the toasted almonds, salt and pepper.
7. Add the mashed to the onion and continue cooking for 5 more minutes. Add the wine and let it evaporate to the alcohol for 5 minutes.
8. Add the tomato sauce , stir well and finally incorporate the reserved cuttlefish and the fish stock or water.
9. When it starts to boil add the meatballs and cook for 20 minutes.
10. We serve very hot, accompanying the meatballs with white rice and watering it with the sauce.

Be sure to enjoy all the recipes with fish  that we have on the blog. You can see all the photos of the step by step in the next album.  

Tips for some meatballs with yummy cuttlefish

• Although the combination of land and sea products is a classic, it is not always a union that convinces everyone. With this recipe that idea will change for skeptics.
• Although a priori it may seem a rare couple, the cuttlefish stewed with meatballs are, without a doubt, a perfect tandem.
• They can be eaten with sauce, for example with a sofrito or with the meat sauce itself, lengthened with water or broth and thickened with flour, but they are also very typical stewed with peas, or with cuttlefish, like those in this recipe.
• A mixture of fish and meat, very typical in our usual cuisine (Apicio and Catalan medieval recipes), and with an almost magical contribution from Catalan gastronomy.
• As always, the secret of success is the use of quality products, good meat and cuttlefish to be fresh, and getting a sauce for this stew that makes us dip bread in it.

Recommendations of sea and mountains to prepare at home

• A dish of sea and mountain totally delicious. Encourage you with sea ​​and mountain dishes , surely dishes like mixed paella, rabbit with shrimp or scampi from Mallorca sound familiar to you.
• You will also find dishes such as chicken with lobster, rabbit with snails and octopus, some pig’s trotters with shrimp, mussel and bacon patty , a monkfish with chanterelles and shrimp, a  risotto with prawns and boletus  or chicken with cod.
• Recipes as delicious as arròs a la cassola (casserole rice with rib, prawns, mussels and cuttlefish), a chickpea stew with mushrooms and monkfish  , lentils with shrimp or the classic trout with ham .
• Have you not tried them yet? What are you waiting for? Not only do you cook at home, I encourage you that when you go to Catalonia or the Costa Brava, do not forget to try some of these surprising but absolutely delicious dishes.