Calamari (Squid) Recipes

1. 1Preheat oven to 350° F
2. 2Place cleaned jalapeno peppers in a small pan and roast in over broiler for 10 to 15 minutes or until soft and slightly browned.
3. 3Remove and let cool
4. 4Place jalapeno peppers, garlic and cheese cubes into a food processor and puree until smooth.
5. 5Add the mayonnaise or miracle whip, sea salt, black pepper, chardonnay or lemon juice.
6. 6Blend until smooth, about 10 to 15 seconds.
7. 7Sauce is ready to serve, but can be heated and served warm if desired.

1. 1Slice the tubular bodies of the calamari into rings ¼” to ¾” sections, I prefer the thicker sections as it seems to enhance the flavor.
2. 2Set the calamari rings and the tentacles into separate containers over ice and set aside.
3. 3In a large zip-lock baggie, mix the flour, garlic, salt and pepper and set aside. An improvement from my grand-mothers time when she had to use a brown paper bag.
4. 4Pour the ¾ C olive oil into a large skillet and heat over a medium flame
5. 5Strain and dry the calamari rings and place a handful into the flour mixture. Shake well until all rings are fully coated.
6. 6Empty contents of zip-lock bag into a colander and shake out excess flour over a dish, leaving the flour coated calamari rings.
7. 7Dump flour mixture back into zip-lock bag
8. 8Fry calamari rings turning often until they are a golden brown
9. 9While frying rings, line a baking pan with paper towels and pre-heat oven to its lowest warming temperature.
10. 10Remove the browned rings from frying pan an place in paper towel lined baking pan, place in oven to keep warm until the frying process is completed.
11. 11Repeat the flour coating and frying process until all the calamari rings are fried, then repeat the process for the tentacles.
12. 12Serve with your favorite dip, lemon garnish or try the Jalapeno dip recipe included in this article.

1. 1Remove tentacles, fins and spotted membrane from body of squid.
2. 2Clean out the tubular body of squid.
3. 3Remove eyes and beak from tentacle part of squid.
4. 4Boil tentacles and fins for 8 to 10 minutes. Drain and let cool
5. 5Chop tentacles and fins finely to mix with stuffing.
6. 6In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta, egg, cheese, parsley, chopped tentacles and fins, salt and pepper.
7. 7Stuff squid with cheese mixture closing each end with a toothpick.
8. 8After stuffed, dredge in flour.
9. 9Heat the oil in large pan and sauté squid until brown on all sides.
10. 10Remove from pan.
11. 11Drain oil from pan, add garlic and Chardonnay
12. 12Bring mixture to a boil, and turn heat down and let simmer until volume is reduced to half.
13. 13Add tomatoes, salt pepper, and oregano, bring to a boil and cook for 10 more minutes.
14. 14Place squid In roasting pan cover with the tomatoes and cover pan with foil,
15. 15Bake in a preheated 350° F oven for 20 minutes.
16. 16Remove from oven, sprinkle with parmesan and serve.

1. 1Remove the tentacles and fins and set aside.
2. 2Clean the body of the squid and remove the spotted membrane covering the body.
3. 3In a bowl mix the bread crumbs, garlic, 2 Tbs olive oil, oregano, parsley, salt, and pepper.
4. 4Gently stuff the squid with the bread crumbs, (don’t over fill).
5. 5Close the end by gently weaving a toothpick, metal squewer threw or sewing the opening shut (This recipe does not use a binder ie: egg, etc. in the filling and will fall out if not careful)
6. 6Keep any leftover bread crumbs.
7. 7Roll (dredge) stuffed calamari in flour and place to side (remove all excess flour)
8. 8Add the ½ C olive oil to a skillet large enough to hold all calamari and heat.
9. 9Brown calamari on all side and then;
10. 10Gently transfer the stuffed calamari to a sauce pan to finish cooking.
11. 11Place sauce pan containing calamari over a medium heat.
12. 12Pour the tomato sauce over the calamari and bring to a boil.
13. 13Reduce heat and let simmer in covered sauce pan over a low heat for 30 minutes
14. 14Be careful to not stir the calamari too much so as not to disturb the filling anymore than necessary
15. 15Turn the heat to low and gently stir in any remaining breadcrumbs.
16. 16Remove from the heat and sprinkle with the Pecorino-Romano cheese.
17. 17Serve over a bed of linguine

1. 1Sauté the onions and garlic in the 2 tbsp of olive oil using a small skillet until soft and translucent.
2. 2Season with salt and pepper and set aside to cool.
3. 3In a medium size bowl, combine cheese, roasted pepper, and bread crumbs.
4. 4Mix in the onion and garlic.
5. 5Stuff each of the cuttlefish or calamari with the filling until nice and plump
6. 6Close the open end with a toothpick or metal skewer (a clean 3” 6 penny nail works great)
7. 7Baste each the cuttlefish or calamari with a little of the oil used to sauté the onions to prevent from sticking while broiling.
8. 8Broil each tube for 2-3 minutes on each side,
9. 9Cut each tube into 4 or 5 nice pieces using a French or angle cut.
10. 10Using the Jalapeno sauce included above or your favorite dipping sauce, spoon a generous amount over the top and serve..

Instructions

1. 1After removing the tentacles and cleaning the calamari
2. 2Remove the fins and spotted membrane covering the calamari setting the fins aside,
3. 3Prepare your tomato sauce and allow to simmer while you finsh preparing the stuffing
4. 4In a large bowl, combine 4 C Italian bread crumbs, 1 clove minced garlic, 1 cup of milk, and 1 egg.
5. 5Add the cheese of your choice and the chopped tentacles and fins.
6. 6Mix thoroughly until a thick moist mixture emerges. (add more milk if necessary).
7. 7Fill each of the calamari being careful not to over stuff.
8. 8Place each of the stuffed calamari in a lightly oiled casserole, layering if necessary.
9. 9Spray or drizzle the stuffed calamari with olive oil.
10. 10Sprinkle with the grated cheese of choice and cover calamari with the tomato sauce, covering the entirely.
11. 11Cover casserole with foil and or lid and place in oven pre-heated to 450° F.
12. 12Bake casserole for 1 hour or until calamari pierce easily with a fork
13. 13Remove from oven. Can be served as a main entree, or over linguine.

1. 1Add 2 tbsp of olive oil to a large sauce pan and sauté chopped onions and garlic until translucent
2. 2Add tomato puree, and paste plus the water.
3. 3Add the crushed tomatoes, bay leaf, oregano, cheese, salt and pepper and stir thoroughly
4. 4Bring to a boil over a medium-high heat.
5. 5Reduce heat to medium-low and let simmer until reduced in volume by 1/3.
6. 6Sauce is ready to use with your favorite pasta or recipe.