Cuttlefish ‘al mattone’ with garlic, lemon & parsley

'Al Mattone' literally means 'under a brick'. In Italy they use this method of flattening when cooking chicken, and I've done the same here with cuttlefish. You can grill the cuttlefish over fire or sear it in a red hot frying pan, placing the 'brick' on top. In the restaurants we use a commercial burger iron, but you can use anything with a bit of weight. Just wrap it in foil first.

Serves 2

Ingredients

2 garlic cloves
100ml good olive oil plus extra for brushing
a handful of chopped flat-leaf parsley
juice of ½ lemon
a pinch of dried thyme
a small handful of fine dry breadcrumbs – panko for a crisp result
2 cleaned cuttlefish
salt

Method

Make the dressing first: grate the garlic into the olive oil, then add the parsley, lemon juice and a good pinch of salt. Set aside.Heat your barbecue grill until the coals are white.Mix the thyme with the breadcrumbs. Brush the cuttlefish with olive oil and season, then give it a light sprinkling of breadcrumbs on both sides. Lay it on the grill and place the weight on top. Cook for 5 minutes, then turn over, put the weight back on top and cook for a further 4 minutes.If you are using a heavy frying pan, rub it with oil and get it hot, then cook the cuttlefish, with the weight on top, as above. You will have a nice golden colour to the cuttlefish. Serve dressed with plenty of the dressing.