Hi, everyone! I’m so happy to share with you one of my favorite recipes from my home country: lulas recheadas. It means stuffed squid in Portuguese, and it’s a dish that I grew up eating and loving.
Lulas recheadas are squid tubes stuffed with a delicious mixture of rice, chorizo, onion, garlic and parsley. They are cooked in a mouthwatering tomato sauce that’s thick and hearty. They are warm, cozy and satisfying.
Lulas recheadas are a traditional Portuguese dish that’s very popular in Portugal. You can find them in many restaurants and homes there. They are especially common in the Algarve region, where I’m from. They are also very easy to make at home with simple ingredients that you can find in any grocery store here in the US.
You just need some fresh or frozen squid tubes (make sure they are cleaned), some chorizo (or any other spicy sausage you like), some onion, garlic, parsley and tomato sauce (you can use store-bought or homemade). That’s all!
In this blog post, I will show you how to make lulas recheadas step by step. You will learn how to prepare the squid tubes (it’s not hard at all), how to cook the rice and chorizo mixture (it smells heavenly), how to stuff the squid tubes with a spoon or a piping bag (it’s really fun), how to make the tomato sauce (it’s super easy) and how to cook everything together in a big pot or pan (it takes about 20 minutes). You will also get some tips on how to season your dish well and how to serve it with some salad or bread.
This is a recipe that I learned from my mother, who learned it from her mother, who learned it from her mother…you get the idea. It’s a family tradition that I’m proud to carry on and share with you. It’s a dish that reminds me of home, of my childhood memories, of my family gatherings.
This is a perfect dish for any occasion. You can make it for a weeknight dinner, a weekend lunch or even a special celebration. It feeds a lot of people and it always makes them happy. So let’s get cooking!
Ingredients
- 2.2 lb of cleaned squid
- 10.6 oz of ground meat
- 3.5 oz of chorizo
- 2 onions
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 1/3 cup of olive oil
- 1 bay leaf
- 3/4 cup of white wine
- 4 ripe tomatoes
- Salt and red pepper flakes to taste
- Chopped parsley to taste
Instructions
- Peel and wash the onions and garlic and chop them finely. Remove the skin from the chorizo and chop it in a food processor.
- Put the tentacles in a bowl, add the ground meat, one chopped onion, chorizo and chopped parsley, season with red pepper flakes and mix well. Then stuff the squid with the mixture and secure with toothpicks.
- Heat a pot over medium heat with olive oil, add remaining onion, garlic and bay leaf and cook until onion is soft. Add white wine and bring to a boil until reduced by half.
- Wash tomatoes, peel them off their skins and seeds and chop them finely.
- Add them to pot, season with salt and red pepper flakes, cover with lid and cook for 10 minutes over low heat.
- Then add stuffed squid to pot, cover again with lid and cook for another 20 minutes or until squid is tender.
- Remove from heat, sprinkle with more chopped parsley if you like it and serve accompanied by white rice or boiled potatoes.
Notes
- You can add other ingredients or substitute some of them according to your preference and availability. For example, you can use different kinds of vegetables, cheese, mushrooms, tuna or shrimp for the stuffing. You can also use different kinds of spices or herbs to season the sauce.
- There are some possible substitutes for white wine that you can use in your recipe. Some of them are:
- Vinegar: You can use white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar. Use about one tablespoon of vinegar for each cup of wine and add some sugar or honey to balance the acidity.
- Beer: You can use any light or blonde beer. Use the same amount of beer as wine in your recipe.
- Mushroom broth: You can use the liquid from canned mushrooms. It has a rich flavor that can replace a white wine reduction. Use the same amount of broth as wine in your recipe.
- Grape juice: You can use white grape juice, especially for desserts. It has a sweet flavor similar to wine but without alcohol. Use the same amount of juice as wine in your recipe.
