Stuffed Calamari

Sometimes I get in the mood for a taste of something that I haven't really tasted before. I may have had all the favors together at a meal but not in the same dish. These are the times that inspire me to come up with different dishes for my family. This stuffed calamari dish was one of those times.  It's a very simple dish. I hope you try it.  My family loved it!

Here's a few hints when buying calamari. 

1. Buy it clean.

2. Buy it clean

3. Buy it clean

I know I've repeated myself but it's worth repeating. Those tiny creatures are tedious to clean and if you can purchase them cleaned already why wouldn't you. 

You are still going to have to make sure that they are clean, you just won't have to spend hours cleaning them. Trust me on this, buy them clean, and if you're stuffing them buy them big!

I started off by soaking the calamari tubes and tentacles in milk for a few hours. The size on these said they were 5" - 8". (They cooked to a smaller size.)

I separated the tentacles from the tubes and I par boiled the tubes. (I don't know if this is correct but it helps the tubes to stay open while stuffing them) give the tubes a cold bath so they stop cooking.  Set the tubes aside. 

In a sauté pan with half a chopped onion, 2 cloves garlic, 1 tablespoon olive oil, 2 cups fresh spinach leaves, and 1 celery stalk chopped cook the tentacles with 5-6 extra large shrimp just until the shrimp turn pink. Take off the heat. Let the mixture cool a little. 

This mixture will need to go into a food processor. I like to "pulse" it a few times so the mixture has a little chew to it and not completely smooth.

Season the mixture with salt and pepper to taste. Add a pinch of hot pepper flakes. The mixture will be moist. I added a small handful of  seasoned breadcrumbs.

Now it's time to stuff.

If you have a pastry bag you may use it, or use a plastic ziplock and cut off one corner and fill the tubes. Or do it my way, get the baby spoons out! I fill them all the way. 

Place them in a baking pan that has a basic tomato sauce*. Add a little white wine, add one can of red kidney beans, cover and bake for 10 minutes or until heated through.

*please use fresh tomato sauce and not something premade that tastes like "homemade". It will make a huge difference in flavor. 

I served the stuffed calamari over very refreshing zucchini "spaghetti". 

Enjoy!

Buon Appetito 

xoxo

Lorraine

Hey, remember me?

I do remember you!

I do apologize for not keeping a steady flow of new recipes and ideas coming your way. I do promise to be a little bit better about it.

There are many days that we sit down and enjoy a fantastic meal. Some days it's something new and exciting and some days it's just a repeat of a family favorite. When it's something new and it's really good, someone will say, "why don't you write about that?" The answer is really so very simple.  I didn't document a single moment in preparing the meal, nor did I take a picture of anything before the plates were completely swiped clean! So there, you have the reason why I haven't been posting. Like the Rod Stewart song says, "Every picture tells a story don't it"? I may not be able to clearly express myself through my words all the time but if I have a picture....well, sometimes it's all I need!

Tonight was perfect. I found myself alone in the house, getting ready to make dinner for myself. (Yes, I do cook for myself. I enjoy good food. It's more fun to dine with others but hey, if I'm going to eat alone its got to be good!)

I spent a huge amount of time on the computer today researching some places to stay in Cabo and started yearning for those tastes that come from across the border. There was a dish that I shared with my daughter Zoe on a trip a few years back, a delicious seafood soup, and decided to play with those flavors. Lucky for me, I always have an extra bag of shrimp and calamari in the freezer. My camera was ready to go and I was all set up.


I started by chopping an onion, 5 cloves of garlic, and 2 bunches of green onions (we also call them scallions) and on medium heat cooked them until they began to sweat. At this time I added one jalapeño pepper which I had finely diced.
My friend Bobby is so good to me. He sent me this fabulous seasoning from Mexico and I added 2 tablespoons of the seasoning to the garlic and onions and then added just enough tequila to make the mixture move a little.
I let the tequila cook off a little, and if you would like you may also add some wine at this time. Give the wine enough time for the alcohol to burn off before adding the squid or shrimp. I added about 2 pounds of squid, which were cleaned and the tubes were cut into rings. Italian plum tomatoes were then hand crushed, about 2 pounds, and mixed in. Protect yourself! It's a messy job hand squishing tomatoes. Without an apron my shirt gets zapped with tomato juice!
Next add the 2 pounds of shrimp, I like to use the size 12-16 to a pound , they are nice and plump and can be cut into a bite size and still have a clean fresh taste. I clean the shrimp, devein them and remove the tails. They are big enough to cut into 3 pieces each.
Add a handful of fresh chopped cilantro, fresh sage, and season with salt and pepper to taste. and Cook for another 5 minutes - 10 minutes. You do not want to over cook the shrimp or the calamari.
Ladle the soup into a nice big bowl,  give it a squeeze of some fresh lime juice,  garnish with a few slices of avocado and chopped cilantro, serve with a Tostadas, and enjoy!
Buon appetito
xoxoxo
Lorraine ❤

Calamari Ripieni

Sometimes I just surprise myself while cooking! Really! During the hurricane warnings I decided to marathon cook. While looking in my freezer I decided to cook up what would defrost quickly if we lost power.  I grabbed 5 pounds of calamari and a few packages of extra large jumbo shrimp. What to do, what to do....I had just finished jarring 60 quarts of tomatoes...so the ideas kept coming.
I started off by making a tomato sauce with onions, garlic, fresh herbs and some olive oil. While that was simmering I started thinking about the calamari and decided to cook half of it in the sauce and have that over pasta, and the other half I would use to stuff the calamari. YUM!
OMG! These came out so good. I made a stuffing using the tentacles from the calamari, celery, onion, garlic, capers, parsley pesto, breadcrumbs, and lemon juice. I sauteed all the ingredients in a little olive oil and it looked a little something like this!

I didn't add alot of breadcrumbs, just a small handful! I seasoned with salt and pepper and started to stuff the tubes of the squid.

When stuffing the tubes of the calamari, don't overstuff. Only stuff half way. If you over stuff, they will burst open while cooking. Keep stuffing until all the tubes are stuffed. If you would like close them with a tooth pick at the opening.
I started cooking an onion in some olive oil.  And when the pan was nice and hot I added all the calamari tubes to the pan. I got a nice sear on each side.

Now it's time to make the sauce!  I just added a little bit of the fresh tomato sauce and let the calamari simmer for a few minutes. It doesn't take very long for the calamari to cook. You just want them to be tender.  These were absolutely delicious!  My family felt like Christmas Eve after this dinner!

Let me know if you make these. And as always if you have any questions I am more than happy to answer them. Leave a comment. Make my day! MWAH!

Buon Appetito
xoxoxo
Lorraine

Cooking with the Trinity

I just realized that although I have been cooking this whole week I did not take a single picture of anything that I made! I made some awesome dishes this week, you'll just have to take my word for it.
This week is Holy Week, and I choose to not eat any meat this week. We've eaten some delicious fish this week, and it's only Thursday!
Here's what you will need for tonight's fast and simple dinner.

Cleaned Calamari (I used 5 pounds)  keep reading even if you're not a calamari fan...you can substitute shrimp! It's actually another delicious dish made with shrimp!
1 -2 Tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 onion chopped
2 stalks of celery, chopped
4- 5 cloves garlic, smashed and chopped
2 jars of crushed tomatoes
1 large can of cannellini beans (the big can!) 1 pound 13 ozs
1/2 cup fresh chopped parsley
a few fresh basil leaves
salt and pepper to taste
a pinch of red pepper seeds
fresh arugula
1 pound of linguini

Tonight's dinner was a simple one, pretty fast to cook, and not too much prep. Depends on how fast you are in the kitchen. I bought the calamari cleaned, but still rinsed them off and made sure there was nothing inside the tubes.
First start by getting your pan hot and then adding your extra virgin olive oil. 1 - 2 tablespoons will do the trick.

Add your chopped onions, garlic and celery to the pan and lower your heat. You want to saute the onions, garlic and celery (the Trinity) in some extra virgin olive oil. My great uncle, Uncle Zio Tilio (lol) was a chef and he said that anything worth eating always started with a Trinity, tonight, my Trinity was the onion, garlic and celery. Just let the Trinity sweat, do not brown.  Add tomatoes....I used two quart sized jars of delicious chunky tomatoes that I jarred this past season! YUM!

mix it all in and season with your salt and pepper and don't forget that pinch of hot pepper seeds. It will add another dimension to the flavor. Black pepper and red pepper hit different parts of your tongue!

Let the tomato sauce simmer for 5 - 10 minutes and add your can of beans and stir. I also add the chopped parsley and basil at this time.  And then it's time for the cleaned calamari to go in! 

before adding the calamari I cut the tubes into rings

Don't over cook the calamari! I think that this took about 10 minutes to cook on a med to high flame.

While the calamari is cooking I start my pasta. Tonight it was linguini.

Drain the linguini, and now here is the fun part and the surprise of the dish!

Arugula! Raw Arugula! Put as much of it in the dish as you want. I used quite a bit. It gives the dish such a lovely peppery flavor!

toss the hot pasta right on top of the arugula

Spoon your calamari sauce over the pasta and using some tongs mix it up!

Serve into individual bowls and enjoy!

Bon Appetito! 

Thanks for the visit! Come back soon!

Lorraine

xoxoxo