The sweet and sour onions in this dish are a great accompaniment to almost any grilled seafood or meat. Use as much or as little as you like in the salad and store any leftovers, covered and refrigerated, for up to a week.
INGREDIENTS:
⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
¼ cup capers in brine, rinsed and dried
500g cuttlefish, cleaned
2 large ripe tomatoes, cored and roughly diced
½ cup basil leaves, torn
Salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Sweet Sour Onions
150ml red wine vinegar
1½ teaspoons salt flakes
2 teaspoons castor sugar
2 small red onions, halved and sliced finely
METHOD:
Make the Sweet Sour Onions: mix the vinegar, salt and sugar in a small bowl, add the onions and leave to marinate for at least 30 minutes.
Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a small frying pan over a high heat. Add the capers and gently shake the pan until they have opened and begun to crisp, remove and drain on paper towel.
Cut cuttlefish hoods down one side and open out flat. Score the inside of the flesh with angled cuts, turn the hoods around and repeat so that the cuts form a crosshatched pattern.
Bring a saucepan of water to the boil, add cuttlefish, including legs, in batches and cook for 1-2 minutes, until it just turns opaque. Slice into 1cm-wide pieces and place in a large bowl.
Add tomatoes, basil, capers, salt, pepper and remaining olive oil to the bowl. Drain the onions well, discarding the marinade, add to the salad and toss gently to combine. Arrange on plates or a large platter and serve.
NOTES:
This dish can be prepared up to 2 hours in advance, but is best brought back to room temperature before serving.
ALTERNATIVE SPECIES:
Steamed Mussels, Baby Octopus (omit scoring, cut into quarters), Prawns, Squid, Calamari.