We just started taking La Cucina Italiana. Our first issue arrived this past week. The magazine is gorgeous! I can’t believe that we waited so long. This is the one with the cover story on grilling steak. ‘course, you all know that we’re pesce-veggie so don’t go for that. But Italian food, being so diverse, the pages were filled with lots of other exciting non-beef recipes. I am desperate to try making my own apricot liqueur, though it must wait until I’ve a chance to snag some ripe fruit. Instead, I jumped on the recipe called spiedini di seppie e finnocchi.

squid and fennel kebabs

I’ve never poached squid before, which was really cool. And I’ve never grilled fennel, either. So this was a real novelty for me. I forgot about the arugula so used Tuscan kale instead, since we’re still blessed with so much of the stuff. Perhaps I should have followed the direction about brushing the skewers with olive oil more carefully. Instead, I sort of dumped it on. The excess oil dripped into the grill and set everything on fire for a while. Uh-oh!

This was good. The fennel cooked but remained a bit crisp. The squid was really flavorful. I served this with plain jasmine rice.

prepared skewers ready for the grill

squid and fennel kebabs

1 lb cleaned squid bodies
¼ lb cleaned squid tentacles
1 ¾ cups dry white wine
1 onion
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 sprig fresh rosemary
2 medium fennel bulbs, sliced into ¼ to 1/3 inch slices
¼ cup plus olive oil
2 tbsp chopped Italian parsley
Large bunch Tuscan kale, large stems removed, sliced coarsely
Salt and black pepper
4 wooden skewers, soaked in water about half an hour

Cut about an inch thick slice of onion and place in medium saucepan. Add wine, garlic, rosemary, squid bodies and tentacles. Add water to submerge squid. Turn on high then lower to simmer. Remove squid bodies from liquid after two minutes simmering. Let tentacles cook six minutes longer. Drain and discard onion, garlic and rosemary.

Set grill on high.

To assemble kebabs, alternately put squid and fennel slices on four skewers. Liberally salt. Sprinkle with black pepper and parsley. Brush with olive oil. Grill about 7 to 10 minutes, turning occasionally.

Meanwhile, slice remaining onion. Place in a large skillet with 1 ¾ cups water. Cook on high heat until most of the water has evaporated. Add ¼ cup olive oil, salt, black pepper and kale. Sauté until tender.

Turn sautéed kale onto a large platter. Gently place kebabs on top. Enjoy.