Cuttlefish morsello, one of the many fish-based variants of the Catanzaro morsello; traditionally morsello is prepared with tripe and various offal. With cuttlefish it turns out lighter, but the intense flavor of morsello is still very much present, because all the ingredients used to season and prepare the cuttlefish morsello are the same used to make the classic morsello. In Catanzaro, of course, the traditional morsello is the most common: you can still find a few small taverns in town that prepare it today as in the past with the original traditional recipe. Some trattorias include it on their menu, but it’s getting harder to find, while many restaurants try to propose new versions—only tripe, only meat, or with swordfish or with cuttlefish. I tasted the cuttlefish morsello in a local restaurant, and since I liked it so much I tried to make it at home; yes, the taste was really as delicious as the one I had at the restaurant, so I leave you the recipe if you want to try it.
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Medium
- Rest time: 5 Minutes
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Cooking time: 1 Hour
- Portions: 6
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients for cuttlefish morsello
- 1.8 lb cuttlefish (1)
- 1 hot chili pepper
- 1/2 onion
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1/2 cup white wine
- 1 leaf bay leaf
- 1.25 cup tomato purée (passata)
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- to taste salt
- 1/2 cup water
Tools to prepare cuttlefish morsello
- 1 Cutting board
- 1 Knife
- 1 Pot
- 1 Ladle
Steps to prepare cuttlefish morsello
We clean the cuttlefish; you can also have it cleaned at the fish market, but cleaning it at home is very simple. First locate the cuttlebone, make a lengthwise incision and remove it. Be careful not to cut the ink sac; remove it and set it aside—the cuttlefish ink is excellent for seasoning spaghetti or for making a great risotto. Separate the head from the body, remove the skin, then prepare the head by separating the tentacles from the entrails and press to remove the beak. Use a small knife to remove the eyes as well. Wash well and the cuttlefish is ready to cook.
For the morsello preparation, cut the cuttlefish into strips. It’s important to use a large cuttlefish with some thickness. Mine was about 1.8 lb before cleaning. Now we’re ready to prepare the cuttlefish morsello.
Put the oil in the pot, add the whole chili pepper (or cut it if you want a spicier morsello), add a small chopped onion, a little oregano and a bay leaf, and let everything gently sweat.
Add the cuttlefish, let it brown briefly, then deglaze with white wine; raise the heat and let it evaporate. Then add the tomato purée, diluted with water, add the tomato paste, a little salt and continue cooking for about an hour. Gradually add more oregano during cooking. Usually, to stir the morsello instead of using a spatula a bunch of oregano is used, so oregano should be added little by little to give that characteristic flavor.
When the cuttlefish is tender, you can turn off the heat; ideally the sauce should be well reduced.
Cuttlefish morsello is excellent served with bread crostini with garlic, oil and chili.
