The film crew from Vasili’s Garden TV recently filmed our backyard garden for the show. It was an exciting, fun day and such a thrill to meet and spend the day with Vasili.  As filming was ending at school pick up time I asked a friend to collect my boys and bring them home so they could be included in the filming also. If you missed the show I have put a copy you can watch below.

My boys (6 and 9 years old) really enjoyed being a part of the filming experience and getting to know Vasili.  My six year old has a very strong food focus. When he gets up in the morning he usually asks what is going to be served for dinner. If he speaks to someone on the phone during a day he will invariably ask them what they are having for dinner. As a result, I wasn’t surprised when after the filming my son chose to ask Vasili what his favourite food is. Vasili’s response was stuffed squid.  He outlined some of the key ingredients but I was immediately transported back in time to when I lived in NSW and first tasted stuffed squid, a heavenly delight. This recipe is not similar to that which I discovered in NSW, nor is it too similar to what Vasili outlined. It is inspired by the conversation and matched by the ingredients I had on had to create this dish.

Vasili also told the kids a story about commercially made tomato sauce that is enough to turn the strongest stomach. They clambered for the fridge to pull out a bottle of my home made version and proceeded to tell him how good it was. In that unprompted minute of pride my kids displayed for real tomato sauce I felt like I earned ‘good mum” status. Thanks to Vasili’s tomato story my children are forever going to avoid store purchased tomato sauce which I am not displeased about! You can find my home made tomato sauce recipe here, or a sugar free version. 

This squid recipe is simple to make, with classic Italian flavours. The cooking process takes a little time but once the preparation is complete it is a hand-off process, allowing you to do other things while it bakes.

It is important to serve and enjoy this meal as soon as it is ready. It is not suited to reheating or the squid becomes rubbery. Perfectly cooked it melts in your mouth. The rice and vegetables provide a wholesome, satisfying dinner.

For the purpose of taking the image shown above I cut a tube in half to show the filling. Ensure that this is done after cooking.

Avoid overfilling the tubes as it may cause them to split.  Place in just enough of the rice mixture to expand the tubes. You will probably have some left over rice mixture as a bonus to use for lunch the next day.

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Rice Stuffed Baked Squid Recipe

Prep Time

20 mins

Cook Time

40 mins

Total Time

1 hr

 

A recipe inspired by Vasili's Garden TV filming in our garden. My kids asked Vasili to describe his favourite meal

Course: Main

Cuisine: Italian, Mediterranean

Keyword: gluten free, italian, squid, traditional

Servings: 4 people

Author: Kyrstie Barcak

Ingredients

• 3 squid tubes
• 1 cup rice cooked
• 1/2 capsicum diced finely
• 200 grams fresh tomatoes
• 1 handful garden greens kale, spinach, herbs - chives, oregano, rosemary, parsley, basil
• 400 ml passata
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 pinch salt generous
• 4 grinds black pepper

Instructions

1. Cook the rice of choice in a rice cooker or stove top and remove from the cooking process 5 minutes prior to completion.

2. Turn on the oven to heat to 160 degrees celcius

3. Place the rice into a mixing bowl and mix through the diced capsicum, a handful of diced tomatoes and the garden greens and herbs, salt and pepper. 

4. Lay the squid tubes in a baking dish and push the rice into the tube to fill it evenly, without being too full. Repeat until all tubes are filled

5. Add the passata, water and remaining tomatoes to the dish around the tubes

6. Cover with a lid or foil and bake in the oven for 40 minutes until the tubes are tender

7. Cut each tube in half to serve, or quarters if serving with a side salad. Add additional fresh herbs and a grind of fresh pepper.

8. Serve immediately

Recipe Notes

Not suited to re-heating.

If you missed seeing our segment on Vasili’s garden you can watch it here:

Kyrstie from Highton – S03 Ep2 – Vasili’s Garden from Black Hat Productions on Vimeo.

I hope you enjoy it and that you add stuffed squid to your family menu.

Find the Kitchen Garden Box® shown towards the end of the show via this page.

I will be writing a quarterly article in the Vasili’s Garden Magazine, with the first one, including more pictures of our garden coming up in the Summer edition. Make sure you grab a copy.