What to do with whole squid?

We love seeing what seafood is on special at the Sydney Markets. Some days you might walk away as the thought of boiling fish heads just doesn’t appeal. But other days you can score some amazing deals on prawns, salmon or squid.

The squid we get there is actual squid. Yes, they are not cleaned and already in pretty tubes. We need to do that ourselves. I hate cleaning whole fish but cleaning squid is actually easy and fun. The first time Daniel and I did this we had to google a video on You Tube. We have been in total fits of laughter as it seems so weird doing it – especially when you find actual whole fish inside!

When looking at squid for this dish, the best for this recipe are the small sized ones. The flesh is thinner which makes this more tender. The main issue is stuffing them – being smaller tubes it is more fiddly to get the stuffing in, but not at all impossible – just need time and patience. I’ve made this dish once with larger squid and found the thicker tubes can be too much and not as pleasant.

I’ve been making this dish for a year now. It started when Daniel surprised me one Saturday with a bag of whole squid he picked up from the seafood section at the markets for a mere $5. He challenged me to create something other than calamari rings from it. So out came my phone to search for a recipe.

I found one, an Italian one. I thought this one was perfect and gave it a go and have adjusted it slightly for our tastes. The flavours in this dish are amazing. Yes it has a couple anchovies in the sauce. I can assure you that you don’t taste their strong flavour. It just adds to the overall flavour complexity that this meal has. You do wonder if slow baking the stuffed tubes will make them chewy. They are, however, anything but chewy – this was a surprise. I always believed that squid needs to be cooked quickly.

Calamari Ripieni (Stuffed Calamari)

The flavour combination in the stuffing is complex - chilli, lemon, wine and rosemary. While it takes a little time to put together, calamari ripieni, or stuffed calamari, is delicious for a dinner party or a special occasion.

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Prep Time 40 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr

Total Time 1 hour hr 40 minutes mins

Servings 4 serves

Ingredients

 

SAUCE

• 8 squid, whole & small
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 anchovies, medium sized
• 4 l garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 cup red wine
• 2 cans Italian crushed tomatoes or passata, 375g each

STUFFING

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 150 g pancetta, diced
• 1/2 fennel bulb, large & diced
• salt
• 1 splash white wine
• 3 slices Italian bread, pulsed in food processor to make breadcrumbs
• 2 tablespoons parsley, chopped
• 1/2 sprig rosemary, crushed
• 1/2 red chilli, finely chopped
• Pepper
• 1 lemon, zest grated

Instructions

 

• To prepare squid, watch this You Tube video. Alternatively, gently pull off the tentacles so the insides come out as well. Cut just underneath the eyes and set the tentacles aside. Remove and discard any beak from the tentacles. Discard the eyes and any insides and gently pull cartilage from the hood and discard. A pinch of salt on your fingers will help to grip the skin on the hood as you remove it. Wash calamari gently.
• For the stuffing, heat olive oil in a small saucepan, add onion and chopped garlic and cook until onion becomes translucent. Add pancetta/bacon and fennel, cook for a few more minutes. Season with salt. Add white wine and simmer until evaporated.
• In a large bowl, add mixture to breadcrumbs, parsley, rosemary, chilli, salt and pepper, crushed garlic and lemon rind.
• When stuffing the tubes, don't overfill them. Leave about 5cm gap at the opening of the tube as mixture will expand when cooking. Use a toothpick to attach tentacles to stuffed squid (optional).
• Preheat oven to 180ºC. Heat olive oil in a frying pan and add anchovies and garlic. When anchovies have infused in the oil, place stuffed squid in the frypan and seal. Add red wine and crushed tomatoes and simmer on low heat for about 5 minutes.
• Gently transfer squid and sauce into a narrow baking dish. If the sauce doesn’t cover the squid, add water. Bake for 45 minutes.

Notes

• I personally like the stuffing to ooze out a little as it mixes with the sauce to make it thicker and delicious so I stuff with about a 3cm gap at the opening.
• Serve this dish with crusty bread, a rocket salad and lemon wedges.