This recipe is from the team at NZ House & Garden magazine.

The secret to the most tender strands of calamari in this salad is to finely cut whole squid tubes and cook them briefly over high heat. Asparagus is delicious eaten raw, but feel free to blanch the spears, if preferred.

WARM CALAMARI, CHORIZO & ROCKET SALAD

Prep: 10 minutes | Cook: 5-6 minutes | Serves 4

Ingredients

100g chorizo, finely sliced

450g calamari tubes, cleaned and dried

Bunch of asparagus or green beans, trimmed

½ cup large green olives, halved

100g baby rocket leaves

Saffron orange dressing

Pinch saffron threads, soaked in 2 tbsp boiling water for 10 minutes

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tbsp sherry or wine vinegar

Juice of 1 orange

Zest of 1 orange, finely grated

4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Method

Cut the chorizo slices into matchsticks. Thinly slice the calamari and put in a bowl with the chorizo. Season with salt and pepper and toss well.

Working quickly, heat a frying pan over high heat, add a little oil and cook the calamari and chorizo in 2-3 batches, for 1-2 minutes each batch, tossing and stir-frying continuously and adding more oil as needed. Remove cooked calamari and chorizo to a clean bowl and set aside to cool a little.

Use a vegetable peeler to cut the asparagus or beans into long thin strands or very finely slice, as preferred. Add the asparagus or beans, olives and rocket to the bowl with the calamari.

Saffron orange dressing: Put all the ingredients, including saffron and the water, in a screw-top jar. Season with salt and pepper and shake well to combine. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss well to coat.