Stuffed Calamari

This is one of my favorite seafood recipes, and it makes a great addition to a Christmas Eve seafood feast. It also makes a great appetizer for a holiday dinner – easy, but deliciously elegant! Buon Gusto! #LidiasRecipes #LidiasItaly #LidiasKitchen #LidiaBastianich #ItalianFood #LidiasTheArtofPasta #LidiasOliveOil

Recipe – https://lidiasitaly.com/recipes/stuffed-calamari-2/

Great with – https://youtu.be/DccKd2SmxGk

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Calamari pi stuffed calamari is one of my favorites and certainly when you go fishing you catch them fresh uh you clean the skin and you use the tentacles and all of that in the stuffing but most of you really can buy it just like this you buy the the bodies the tubes of calamari nice and clean and ready to go and these are perfectly fine and I’ll show you How to make the stuffing for those. Put some breadrumbs in there. Some grated cheese. Boiled egg. Chop it. Just so that gives it a little texture and it will also bind the whole stuffing. chopped parsley, olive oil, pinch of salt, [Music] and some wine. And just mix it until it’s all moist, but kind of compact. Let’s stuff the calamari. Now, the toothpick. So, you you kind of hold the calamari on one side. a teaspoon that will fit into your and you kind of don’t over stuff the calamari. But you slowly put it in and I’m looking. Yeah, this is enough because the calamari when it cooks it bakes, it tightens up. It becomes smaller and becomes nice and plump. But you don’t want it to explode. So, we’ll put it right in there. And so on down the line, you stuff all of your calamaris. [Music] I have plenty. [Music] So calamari, you know, calamari. Uh when I was young in East Raa, I used to go and fish with my uncle Emlio. He used to go in the evening when it got dark. And what he would have me do is rip ribbons of white cloth from an old sheet. And then I would be in the back of the boat by the light with this shimmering kind of tail. And the calamari would float up to see to investigate what was that moving. They thought it would be something to eat. He had this kind of it looked like an upside down palm tree full of hooks and he would throw it in and lasso in the calamari. And what was great about the calamaris when I had the time when they were on board and they were still alive uh the pigment but I used to play with that. I used to touch it with my fingers and all of the coloring the pigment would move all around the calamari and I used to have fun with that. Um you know these calamaris are delicious because they’re small but they’re tough to to stuff. So, I’m going to get even a smaller an espresso spoon. I think that should do it. So, you know, when you’re in the kitchen, common sense because common sense works. You know, if the this the spoon was too big, then we need smaller equipment to get it in. But you know what? At the end, the small kalamaris are going to be delicious. And you know, I’m finishing the last one, but they do take patience to fill. But you know, then everything that’s good needs a little extra work. So, here we are. That’s done. Let’s make the sauce. Parsley, sliced garlic, lemon juice, [Music] slices of lemon. This really when it cooks, it’s delicious. You eat pieces of lemon with the calamari. It’s really good. Capers. Lots of capers. Some anchovies. Anchovies are always that extra addition of flavor, but I would chop it just a little bit. Okay. Put it in. Add a little bit of oil. A little bit of wine. Let’s mix this. So, this is the sauce that we’re going to pour over the calamari and then put them in the oven. Now I see we have some of the stuffing left. Let’s pour that over it. And that will kind of incorporate in the sauce and make it denser. And just pour the sauce over all of the calamaris. This is ready to go in the oven just like this. We want a high temperature. Calamaris cook quick. There’s nothing much else to cook, but you do want to develop a sauce. So a 450°ree hot oven for about depends on the size of them half an hour to 40 45 minutes and they will be done. So the calamaris are done and you see how they plumped up because the the actual tube calamari tightens up and the stuffing inside fills the calamari. No. Now we have the toothpicks and you can remove it for your guests. But you know your guests can handle it, right? I think so. And here they are. Just like this. Put them on a nice beautiful platter. Okay. Maybe maybe one here. This one is mine. I’m going to taste it in a minute. But let’s put on the sauce now. And you know, I’m going to put the sauce around it because I kind of like the crunchiness of the lemon, of the calamari. I don’t want to smother it. Okay, I think this looks good. Now, let me fix mine up here. Parsley. Some nice fresh parsley. A bouquet just like this. It’s like the bouquet of flowers on this beautiful dish. You bring it to the table. Let everybody help themselves. This is a great dish family style. Just advise them that there the toothpicks in there. You could take the toothpick out just like that. Now, let me cut in the middle so you get to see the stuffing. Here is the stuffing. And it certainly looks good. And now let me taste. I like a little piece of lemon as well. And let me cut little capers. Really good. Labonta del Mar. The deliciousness of the sea. Just delicious. You can make them in advance and just bake them the last minute. And to that end, I certainly have enough and I’m going to invite you. But you’re going to have to take your own toothpicks out. I’m sorry. So, come to Amjare. To learn more about Lydia, access to videos, and to get recipes, tips, techniques, and much more, visit us online at lydazit.com. [Music]