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Grilled squid salad with provençal vegetables

Raymond Blanc’s juicy and colourful summer salad is simple, satisfying and bursting with the flavours of Provence. From Raymond Blanc Kitchen Secrets (S2)

For the provençale vegetables
1 medium fennel bulb, trimmed, thinly sliced lengthways
1 medium courgette, thinly sliced lengthways
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
pinch sea salt
pinch freshly ground black pepper
200g/7oz sun-dried tomatoes
For the grilled squid
3 medium squid, about 200g/7oz each, cleaned
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp lemon juice
2 pinches sea salt
1 red chilli, seeds and pith removed, finely chopped, preferably Snub nose or Rio Grande variety
1 tsp grated palm sugar, or 2 tsp brown sugar
For the rocket salad
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar, preferably 8-year-old
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
pinch freshly ground black pepper
4 small handfuls rocket
For the garnish
parmesan shavings
extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling

For the provençale vegetables, heat a griddle pan and cook the fennel and courgette slices for one minute on one side, then remove from the heat.

Drizzle over the olive oil, season with the salt and freshly ground black pepper and set aside.
For the squid, slice open each squid lengthways, score a criss-cross pattern on the inside and cut each into three pieces.

Mix the squid pieces with the olive oil, lemon juice, sea salt, chilli and sugar and leave in a shallow, non-reactive bowl to marinade for half an hour.

Heat a griddle pan until it is very hot, then grill the squid pieces for 15-30 seconds on each side. (This will produce a lot of smoke so make sure your extraction is on and the kitchen is well ventilated.) It is important that the pan is extremely hot so that the squid cooks very quickly and does not boil in its own juices. If it cooks for any longer than two minutes it will become tough and rubbery.

For the rocket salad, mix together the balsamic vinegar, olive oil and pepper and dress the rocket with the vinaigrette.

To serve, place the squid and vegetables around each plate. Place the dressed rocket in the centre of the plate, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and garnish with the sun-dried tomatoes and parmesan shavings. Alternatively, mix the dressed rocket with the parmesan in a large bowl and serve separately.

Notes

You could grill a wider variety of vegetables to serve with the squid. Try English asparagus (blanched for 2 minutes before grilling), peppers, red onions, artichokes or aubergines.