Calamari

I remember the time when I wanted to prepare calamari at home for the first time. I decided to check out some posts and articles in internet in this regard, and get ready for this great task. I started reading all kinds of methods, cooking times and techniques, that at the end I wanted to never see calamari again in my life.

The purpose of this post is to share with you guys two of my most favorite and successful recipes for calamari. If you are like me and my boyfriend probably will need to use both of the recipes. I like the crispy fry calamari, and he loves them sautéed. So whenever I agree to cook calamari at home, I usually prepare both types

Here they are:

Sautéed Calamari

250 grams fresh calamari (cleaned and sliced into thin rings; ! make sure to remove the thin skin of the calamari, before you cut them into rings, it is eatable, but after cooked will be chewy)

5 garlic cloves

1 onion (chopped into small pieces)

1 tea spoon chili flakes

3 table spoons chives (optional)

Juice from 1 lemon

Fresh parsley

3-4 table spoons vegetable oil or butter

Heat the oil in a large skillet. Place the garlic, onions and chili in the oil. Fry until golden. Add the calamari and cook for a minute. Then add the lemon juice, chives and parsley and cook for another minute.  Remove from skillet and transfer to a nice serving plate.

You could serve with the Remoulade sauce.

Please note that when cooking calamari, there need to be only one layer in the skillet. So divide your ingredients into batches. If you have calamari meat for 3 batches, then divide your onions, garlic and greens into three batches and then cook each batch separately.

Crispy Fried Calamari

200 grams fresh calamari (cleaned and sliced into thin rings)

½ cup all-purpose flour/corn flour/chickpea flour (whatever you like)

Salt & Pepper

Hot chili flakes

The calamari should be pre-cut into rings, rinsed and patted dry with paper towels.

Mix the flour, salt, pepper and chili in a large bowl. Add the calamari rings and mix well.

Transfer the calamari into a sifter and shake off all the extra flour.

Heat vegetable oil in the deep fryer to 180 C° (350 degrees F). The actual temperature depends on the thickness of the calamari rings and the number of rings cooked at the same time; use hotter oil for more calamari.

Fry for 2-3 minutes maximum. Then transfer onto a paper towel to soak up the oil.

You could serve them with Remoulade sauce and lemon wedges.

Rémoulade Sauce:

1 cup mayonnaise

2 teaspoons ketchup

1 teaspoon hot chili sauce (or hot chili flakes)

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoons prepared horseradish

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon minced fresh parsley leaves

½ teaspoon capers, drained and rinsed

½ teaspoon Dijon mustard (Cajun mustard)

1 small clove garlic, coarsely chopped

Salt and pepper

Mix well all of the ingredients, transfer to a small sauce dish and serve. You may keep the sauce in the refrigerator up to 3 days.