This seems like a good recipe but I make mine a little differently. In the stuffing I add pignoli nuts and chopped hard boiled eggs with the chopped tentacles. I then toothpick them closed and sear them in a pan. Then cover with sauce and simmer for about 45 minutes.
Stuffed Calamari
This flavorful dish is a Feast of the Seven Fishes favorite. This recipe first appeared in our December 2011 issue along with the special feature Italian America.
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Credit: Todd Coleman
INGREDIENTS
½ cup plus 2 tbsp. olive oil¼ tsp. dried oregano
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
½ small yellow onion, minced
2 tsp. tomato paste
4 tbsp. red wine
½ 28-oz. can whole peeled tomatoes in juice, crushed
1 bay leaf
2 tsp. balsamic vinegar
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
12 cleaned calamari
1 cup bread crumbs
1 cup finely grated pecorino
3 tbsp. finely chopped parsley
2 tbsp. finely chopped oregano
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Heat 2 tbsp. oil in a 4-qt. saucepan over medium-high heat. Add dried oregano, garlic, and onions; cook until soft, about 6 minutes. Add tomato paste; cook until caramelized, about 2 minutes. Add 3 tbsp. wine, tomatoes, and bay leaf, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook until thickened, about 20 minutes. Stir in remaining wine and vinegar; season with salt and pepper. Set sauce aside.2. Heat oven to 350°. Heat remaining oil in a 10″ skillet over medium heat. Chop tentacles and add to skillet; cook for 1 minute. Remove from heat; stir in breadcrumbs, pecorino, parsley, and oregano. Season with salt and pepper. Stuff each calamari body half full with bread crumb mixture; place in a 9″ × 13″ baking dish. Pour sauce over calamari; bake until warmed through, about 30 minutes.
Ratings & Reviews (5)
This recipe is just delicious. I'm making it again this year. Grandma Peparata would be proud. Mangia~
Absolutely delicious and easy to prepare. I used a full recipe of the sauce for half of the stuffed calamari portion. Wished I'd made a double batch of sauce and full amount of the calamari as they disappeared in seconds. Used panko for the bread crumbs and substituted parm regg for the cheese.
This recipe was excellent, the only flaw in my opinion, as others have mentioned, is the need more more sauce. The recipe as is is good if you're serving as an appetizer, although I question if there would be enough moisture in the recipe to get the stuffing moist during the baking process. Double the sauce recipe or skip it if you have your own sauce or a good bottle sauce (I'm not talking that Ragu crap, something like a Rao's or Vincent's Clam Bar). The recipe made a lot of stuffing, I pretty much stuffed the calamari to nearly the end but since I had it fully covered in sauce it stayed pretty contained in the calamari. I served this with crusty Italian bread and baked garlic, but with the extra sauce you could certainly serve over pasta as well. Enjoy!
And Chrislyn, I concur with your pine nut suggestion. That would take the taste of this from good to great.
Stuffed Calamari
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