The ancient Romans loved cuttlefish very much. In his book, Apicius reports various recipes.
The consumption of cuttlefish continues to today.
My sister is crazy about it and, for this reason, my mother often make this recipe just to make her happy. It’s a dish that I hardly ever make because I don’t particularly like the double sweetness of peas and cuttlefish.
How funny… we are two sisters who have totally opposite tastes in terms of food: I love meat and she pasta, I like the yolk and she the egg white, I prefer the crust and she the crumb. We have never fought to get the last bite of a dish!

Cuttlefish with peas

  • Preparation time: 40 minutes
  • Ingredients for 4-6 servings
  • Difficulty: Easy recipe

  • Ingredients
  • 500 grams or 1 lb. of shelled fresh peas
  • 1 kg or 2 lb. of small cuttlefish
  • 1 desalinated anchovy fillet
  • 1 small onion
  • Extra virgin olive oil to taste
  • Salt to taste
  1. Instructions
  2.  Finely chop the onion.
  3. Clean the cuttlefish very well. Separate the tentacles. Gently incise the inside of the head while keeping the knife blade slanted, forming diamond-shaped cuts. Then cut it into squares.
  4. In a saucepan over the heat, warm the olive oil. Pour the onion into the pan and cook over a medium heat until very soft and translucent, stirring occasionally. Add the anchovy fillet, the peas, and the squid tentacles. Cook over low heat for at least thirty-five to forty minutes.
  5. After this time, add the cuttlefish heads and cook everything for a few minutes.
  6. Salt if necessary before serving.

Tips to ensure the success of the dish:

  • Use fresh peas which are in season. This is typically a spring dish for not only the peas, but also for the cuttlefish, which are mainly caught in the months of March and April.
  • Clean the cuttlefish well. It’s a pretty simple process. Rinse them well. Look for the bone with your fingers on the belly of the mollusk and make a cut with a knife to remove it. Take out the bag containing the black to prevent the ink from spilling. Now separate the head from the tentacles. Remove the innards and outer skin. Eliminate the beak, positioned in the center of the tentacles, as well as the eyes. Rinse everything well again.
  • The cuttlefish head must be cooked for a very short time – otherwise it becomes too chewy. The alternative is to overcook them so that they become very soft. I prefer that they remain slightly crunchy, so it’s a short cooking time for me.
  • Always salt at the end of preparation.