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maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 24 JUNE 2015 14 Food Summer squid and lemon languor As summer continues to roll on, there's nothing quite like showing off with our seaside produce, and Sean Gravina is on hand – courtesy of Gourmet TV – with a recipe for pan-fried squid with a crunchy and spicy pangrattato. And to freshen up with a sweet dessert, Pippa Mattei once again comes to the rescue with an undisputed classic – the lemon meringue pie, which uses separated eggs in the most efficient manner – the yolks for the lemony filling and the whites for the meringue topping Pippa Mattei Serves 8 Ingredients • 500g short crust pastry Lemon filling • 2 lemons • 4 egg yolks • 100g corn flour • 500ml water • 50g butter • 200g sugar Meringue topping • 4 egg whites • 150g sugar Method 1. Roll out prepared pastry to the required shape and size, carefully put into a baking flan dish pressing sides well in and trimming edges. 2. To keep the pastry from puffing up in the oven, put some aluminium foil into the pastry case and crumple up to fit into all the corners. Alternatively, place a piece of greaseproof paper into the pastry case and fill with dried beans (which you keep for this purpose). 3. Bake your pastry case for approx. 30 mins then remove the paper and cook for a further 5-10 mins until pastry is golden. 4. Remove from oven, allow to cool and set aside until needed. 5. To make the lemon filling, cut the lemons into 4 pieces each and place them in a processor together with the sugar, egg yolks, corn flour and water. 6. Switch to maximum speed and blend for 10-20 seconds ONLY. 7. Pour this through a mesh strainer into a medium sized pan, pressing well with a spoon to extract all the juice. 8. Add the butter and cook the mixture on medium heat, stirring constantly until it thickens. 9. Continue cooking for another minute, then remove from the heat, and allow to cool. 10. When cool, fill the baked pastry case. 11. To make the meringue topping, place the egg whites in a bowl, and whisk on maximum speed until thick. 12. Sprinkle in one third of the sugar during the last stage of whisking and continue until the mixture is quite stiff. 13. Fold in the remaining sugar using a hand whisk. 14. Put the meringue on top of the lemon filling in the pastry case making sure it comes to the edge. 15. Twirl a few 'peaks' with a fork and then dust lightly with some extra sugar. 16. Place the pie in a moderately hot oven at 180°C for 5-10 mins until the meringue top is turning brown. Get more of Pippa Mattei's recipes in her books 25 Years In A Maltese Kitchen, Pippa's Festa and Fil-Kcina ma' Pippa. This recipe first appeared on Gourmet Today TV, aired on 19 June, 2015. Serves 4 Ingredients • 6 tbsp olive oil • 1-2 fresh red chillies, pricked • 6 cloves garlic, unpeeled lightly crushed • 2 large handfuls stale breadcrumbs • Salt and pepper • 4 baby squid, trimmed and cleaned, wings left on, tentacles left whole • ½ lemon, very thinly sliced • Handful flat-leaf parsley leaves Method 1. To make the pangrattato, put the oil into a thick- bottomed pan. 2. Add the whole chillies, garlic and breadcrumbs and stir for a couple of mins until the breadcrumbs are crisp and golden. 3. Season with a little salt and pepper and drain on kitchen paper. 4. Wipe the pan with kitchen paper and put it back on a high heat. 5. Add a good splash of oil, then season the squid and tentacles and lay them gently in the hot pan with lemon slices. If you can't fit them all in, cook them in two batches – you don't want them all cramped together. 6. Fry for a minute or so till golden, then turn the squid over and fry for the same amount of time on the other side. The lemons will colour a little and need to be turned quicker then the squid, so just remove them from the pan and put to one side when golden. Small squid should be cooked through by this time, but if your squid are larger they'll need a bit longer. 7. Take the pan off the heat and divide the squid and lemon slices between your plates. Scatter the pangrattato and the finely sliced parsley over the top of the squid. 8. Serve with a lightly dressed rocket salad. This recipe first appeared on Gourmet Today TV, aired on 19 June, 2015. Lemon meringue pie Pan-fried squid with lemons and pangrattato