Squid Ragu, Kale, Burrata & Breadcrumbs

There was so much right here with this dish, but it just didn't pop. Sotto was the inspiration for this meal, and our trip to the grocery store marks where it started to go wrong. We set out to create a spicy octopus ragu with black kale. There was no black kale. There was no octopus. In a scramble, we switched to regular kale and squid. Neither substitute lived up to what we were hoping for.

I found a few recipes for squid and octopus ragu, and they all spoke about a long slow cooking of the squid in a broth. I was slightly concerned that this long cooking (roughly 40 minutes) would make our squid rubbery and overcooked. That fear was unfortunately realized.

All of the components were there, squid, a ragu sauce, delicious burrata, and breadcrumbs, but each bite left us wanting more. We'll have to try it again to see if we can pull this off correctly!