Calamar and butifarra bun

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This dish takes the humble sandwich to the next level. Angel Zapata Martin uses the Catalan speciality sausage butifarra and stuffs it inside small, tender squid, which are then sliced and fried to crisp perfection. These delicious discs are then placed inside homemade mollete buns and drizzled heartily with an allioli inspired by chimichurri, which is spiked with habanero and piquillo peppers.

First published in 2019

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Mollete dough

  • 100g of floury potatoes
  • 150g of plain flour, sifted
  • 70ml of milk
  • 5g of fresh yeast
  • 4g of salt
  • 15g of olive oil, preferably Arbequina

To prepare the moulds

  • butter, for greasing
  • flour, for dusting

Butifarra-stuffed squid

Chimichurri allioli

Equipment

  • Potato ricer
  • 8cm metal rings 8
  • Piping bags
  • Blender
  • Skewers 8

Method

1
To begin, make the mollete dough. Peel the potatoes and boil until tender. Drain and allow to cool before passing through a potato ricer
2
Combine the potato with the remaining ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Knead into a smooth dough – you can also do this by hand but it may take a little more time. Cover the dough and allow to prove in a warm place until doubled in size
  • 15g of olive oil, preferably Arbequina
  • 150g of plain flour, sifted
  • 5g of fresh yeast
  • 4g of salt
  • 70ml of milk
3
Once doubled in size, knock the dough back and divide into 40g portions. Shape each potion into a ball and place on a tray lined with baking parchment, leaving sufficient space between each ball to allow them to expand as they rise. Place in the oven on a proof setting, or with just the pilot light on. Place a tray of boiled water below to create humidity. If your oven doesn't have a proof setting or a pilot light, turn it to its lowest setting then turn off – you just want to create a fairly warm, humid atmosphere for the dough to prove, which should be no higher than 45°C
4
Grease the ring moulds with butter then dust with flour and place on a lined baking tray. Carefully transfer the buns to the moulds (you can also leave the buns fereeform if you don't have any moulds)
  • flour, for dusting
  • butter, for greasing
5
Preheat a combi steam oven to 175°C at 85% humidity. Alternatively, preheat a regular oven to 175°C/gas mark 4 and place a tray of boiling water at the base of the oven. Place the buns in the oven and cook for 8–10 minutes, until cooked through. Set aside until ready to serve
6
Clean the squid well, removing the central quill, head, wings and tentacles. Chop the wings of the squid finely and place in a bowl
7
Soak the slice of bread in milk and, once soft, add to the bowl with the chopped squid wings. Add the butifarra sausage and mix well with a generous pinch of salt and pepper. Transfer to a piping bag and place in the fridge for 15–20 minutes
8
Pipe the butifarra mixture into the cavity of each squid. Place the stuffed squid in the freezer and allow to firm up, but not completely freeze
9
Meanwhile, make the allioli by blending together the garlic, oregano, Espelette pepper, cumin seeds, habanero chilli, piquillo chilli, fennel seeds and lemon juice. Add the egg and egg yolks to the mixture and pulse to combine
10
Turn the blender on and gradually stream in the oils, adding little by little, until the mixture forms an emulsion. Remove the mixture from the blender and stir in the chopped parsley and coriander. Season to taste
11
Slice the squids horizontally into 0.5–1cm slices and thread onto skewers
12
Heat a frying pan over a medium-high heat, add a dash of oil, then cook the skewers for a few minutes, turning to make sure both sides are seared and cooked through
13
To serve, slice open each bun. Shred the lettuce and divide between the buns with slices of the stuffed squid. Spoon over plenty of allioli and garnish with sun-dried tomatoes. Serve immediately
First published in 2019

As executive chef of London’s lauded Barrafina restaurants, Angel Zapata Martin became a figurehead for authentic Spanish tapas in the UK.

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