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1
Warm the olive oil in a wide, heavy-based pan over a medium-low flame. Add the onion, garlic, and celery. Cook uncovered for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the soffritto is completely soft, translucent, and carrying no raw edge. The vegetables must not colour.
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2
Raise the heat to medium. Add the cuttlefish pieces and tentacles in a single layer — work in batches if the pan cannot accommodate them without crowding. Turn to coat in the soffritto. Add the white wine and pierce the reserved ink sacs directly into the liquid; stir to disperse the ink. Cook for 5 minutes. The wine will reduce and the liquid will turn a deep, opaque black.
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3
Add the crushed tomatoes and the chard stalks. Stir to combine, reduce the heat to low, and cover the pan. Braise for 20 minutes. This is where the dish lives or dies: the ink sac must be in the braising liquid from this point forward — without it the sauce is a plain tomato stew, stripped of the characteristic black depth that defines zimino.
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4
After 20 minutes, add the chard leaves. Stir them into the sauce, replace the lid, and continue braising for a further 20 to 25 minutes. The leaves should be fully wilted and soft but not reduced to grey mush.
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5
Uncover and test the cuttlefish: it is done at 40 to 45 minutes total braising time, when it yields cleanly to a skewer without resistance. The zimino sauce should be dense and slightly gelatinous — a spoon drawn across the pan should leave a path that closes slowly — and dark enough to stain white crockery black.