Squid Soup

[bleudauvergne]

Squid Soup

I was looking up recipes for stuffed squid a while back and noticed that the further east you go in Europe, the more lovely little things like cinnamon, and cloves are found in these recipes. I finally settled on a house recipe that is stuffed with veal, is braised in dry white wine, and which the braising broth contains bay leaves, bits of whole cinnamon stick, peppercorns, whole cloves, and juniper berries. The result is just wonderful, a comforting, uplifting dish that always gets gobbled up every time I serve it. This is a soup incorporating the same things, which I make as a quick fix for the lovely flavors from time to time when I don't have time to stuff the squid.

• 200 g minced veal meat
  
• 200 g small squid bodies, innards removed and cleaned
  
• 1 eggplant
  
• 1 green pepper
  
• 1 zuchinni
  
• 1/2 celery root
  
• 1/2 medium onion
  
• 1 tomato
  
• 1 tsp salt
  
• 3 bay leaves
  
• several small chips off a cinnamon stick
  
• 10 black peppercorns
  
• 6 juniper berries
  
• 3 cloves
  
• 1/2 c dry white vermouth
  

Roughly dice the vegetables. Add the minced meat and squid. If the squid bodies are rather large you can cut them up. Put the cinnamon stick, cloves, juniper berries, and peppercorns into a sack, linen bundle, or tea ball and add to the pot. Put the whole bay leaves in. Add the vermouth. Add water just to cover (the eggplant will float). Add the salt. Bring to a boil, and then lower the heat. Keep at a low simmer for one hour. Serve in warmed flat soup bowls at the table.

( RG1276 )