Ingredients

The following ingredients have 4 Servings
  • ¼ small watermelon vegetable oil, for deep-frying
  • 50 g vine leaves in brine
  • ¹⁄³ cup (50 g) plain flour
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus extra to garnish
  • 500 g calamari, cleaned, scored and cut into bite-sized pieces, tentacles reserved
  • Salt flakes and cracked pepper
  • 200 g green olives
  • 200 g goat’s curd, broken into small pieces
  • Flat-leaf parsley, to garnish

Instruction

  • Trim the skin from the watermelon and cut the flesh into thick rectangles about 15 cm × 5 cm. Store in the fridge until needed.
  • Heat the oil for deep-frying in a deep-fryer to 180°C (or in a heavy-based saucepan until a cube of bread browns in 15 seconds). Remove the vine leaves from the brine and pat dry with paper towel. Dust with flour, shaking off any excess, then deep-fry until crispy. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towel.
  • Meanwhile, heat a chargrill pan or barbecue grill or flatplate until hot. Drizzle the olive oil over the calamari and season with salt and pepper. Grill the calamari until lightly charred and the flesh has no transparency.
  • Arrange the watermelon, olives and goat’s curd on a serving plate. Put the calamari and crisp vine leaves on top and finish with parsley leaves, a drizzle of olive oil and a final grinding of salt and pepper.