Seppie in Umido

By John, 10 October, 2026
Region
Italy
Veneto
Description
Cuttlefish in Umido, stewed cuttlefish

I saw a lot of cuttlefish in Venice, but it's hard to find in the USA. I finally found fresh cuttlefish at the Kam Man Asian market in Quincy.

Cuttefish are cephalopod mollusks like squid and octopus. For cooking they are most like squid. 

This is a very traditional recipe from Veneto, the region of northeast Italy that includes Venice. You clean and cut up the cuttlefish meat, saute it briefly in seasoned oil, and simmer gently in tomato sauce until tender. It can also be made with little cuttlefish that must be cleaned and the beaks and ink sacs removed, but they can be otherwise cooked and eaten whole.

Yield
2 Servings
Preparation time
15 minutes
Cooking time
40 minutes
Total time
55 minutes
Ingredients
1 lb Fresh Cuttlefish
2 T Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
1 clv Garlic (crushed)
1 Dried Chili Pepper
1⁄2 c Fresh Parsley (chopped)
3 oz Dry White Wine
8 oz Tomato Passata
Instructions
  1. First of all, clean the cuttlefish by removing the internal bone, the eyes and the sac containing the ink.
  2. If you have chosen small cuttlefish, clean them but leave them whole, if you have a large one you can slice it into strips about half an inch wide and 2 inches long.
  3. Sauté the peeled garlic, oil, and chili pepper for 1 minute; then add the cuttlefish, stir well, and brown them slightly, then remove the chili pepper and deglaze with white wine.
  4. Leave to dry over a high flame until the wine has evaporated.
  5. Add the tomato passata and half of the chopped parsley:

  6. Let it simmer for about 40 minutes, until the cuttlefish are tender when pierced with a fork. Add salt if needed.

    At the end of cooking, the sauce should be full-bodied and moist. If the cuttlefish are soft and the sauce is still runny, remove them from the pan to avoid compromising the softness and let the sauce thicken a little more by raising the heat slightly.

  7. Finally add a handful of finely chopped fresh parsley, stir well and mix for another 2 minutes.
  8. Serve hot.

 

Source

https://www.tavolartegusto.it/ricetta/seppie-in-umido/