If you're looking for something to do with calamari besides deep frying it, try this racy recipe filled with juicy olives, fresh cherry tomatoes, and briny capers. The classic southern Italian puttanesca sauce is ideal for making an exciting and easy calamari dish that takes under 15 minutes to cook.
Because it quicks so quickly, this is a great dish to have any night of the week of year. It can be served as a main course or as a nice shared appetizer.
Alternately, the classic pairing with any seafood stew is crusty bread. However, great gluten free options include boiled potatoes, rice pilaf, or steamed vegetables. I like to contrast the red color of this dish with a yellow saffron rice pilaf or turmeric rice and serve with a green salad.
Calamari - This recipe uses raw calamari though precooked will work the same way. To clean the squid, separate the legs from the tubes. Pull the clear 'needle' from the tube and push out any guts with the back blade of a knife. Slice the tubes into about 1" rings. Cut off the knobby round bone holding the legs together. Trim off that one extra, long leg that every squid has for some reason.
White Wine - Use a dry (unsweet) white wine like Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio, or unoaked Chardonnay. Actually, this recipe works with rose or red wine too, if you have that on hand. Wine adds acidity that is essential for Italian seafood dishes. It also adds tertiary flavors that wine has, but you can substitute with fish stock and lemon juice if you don't have wine.
Olives - Use pitted, good quality olives like kalamata or Spanish green olives.
Capers - These can come packed in brine or salt. If salt packed, make sure you rinse off any extra salt.
Anchovy - This recipe uses canned anchovies. You can also use anchovy paste from a tube.
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Start garlic and olive oil in a cold pan. Gently heat over medium heat until the garlic just starts to sizzle.
Add the chili flakes, tomato paste, and anchovy to the pan.
Mash up the anchovies and toast all the ingredients together for about 10-30 seconds.
Adds the olives, cherry tomatoes, and capers to the pan.
Gently cook the vegetables for about 1-2 minutes to allow them to caramelize with the hot oil. (It really does help to develop a more complex flavor.)
Deglaze the pan with white wine. (Rose or red wine works too.) Increase the heat, and bring the mixture to a low boil.
Cook until the tomatoes start to burst and the alcohol in the wine starts to burn off. This should take about 2-3 minutes. Keep stirring, so nothing starts to stick.
Add the squid tubes to the pan. Bring the mixture back up to a simmer.
The squid only takes 1-3 minutes to cook. Keep stirring, so all the squid touches the hot liquid and cooks evenly.
Turn off the heat, and stir in the parsley and lemon zest.
Hot Tip: Please DO NOT OVERCOOK the squid. It will become chewy and unedible. Squid has to either be cooked quick or braised for a couple hours to become soft again.
Substitutions
Other Types of Seafood - Scallops, chunks of pan seared cod, and peeled shrimp would work so well in this dish.
White Wine - Use rose or red wine if you have a bottle already open instead of white wine. Otherwise, sub with fish stock, clam stock, or water and add 1 Tb of fresh lemon juice. (I have tried it with red wine, and it results in a more purply tinged sauce and a bit of a richer, deeper flavor.)
Vegan - Omit the anchovies and use sliced hearts of palm instead of squid.
Storage
Once the dish has cooled, store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Freeze for up to 1 month.
Tips to make it easier @home
Mis en place: Chop all the vegetables first, wipe down the cutting board, and then pull out the calamari from the fridge to clean and cut it. Then you only have to wash the cutting board once. This recipe cooks quickly, so all the ingredients should be ready to go before you heat the pan.
Prep the ingredients beforehand, so you only have to spend 10-15 minutes cooking the dish when you're ready to eat.
Serve directly from the pan for easy clean up alongside crusty bread, boiled potatoes, rice pilaf, or steamed vegetables.
If you're looking for something to do with calamari besides deep frying it, try this racy recipe filled with juicy olives, fresh cherry tomatoes, and briny capers. The classic southern Italian puttanesca sauce is ideal for making an exciting and easy calamari dish that takes under 15 minutes to cook.
¾cpitted olivesroughly chopped into big chunks, mix of green and black is nice
1Tbcapers
Seasoning
⅔cwhite wineSee Note 1 for substitute
1teaspoonlemon zest
2Tbchopped parsley
Optional Garnishes
lemon wedges for garnish
salt to tastefor me this is a ½ teaspoon of pink Himalayan salt
Instructions
To clean the squid, separate the legs from the tubes. Pull the clear 'needle' from the tube and push out any guts with the back blade of a knife. Slice the tubes into about 1" rings. Cut off the knobby round bone holding the legs together. Trim off that one extra, long leg that every squid has for some reason.
Put the garlic and olive oil in a cold pan. Put the pan on the stove over medium heat to gently heat the garlic without browning.
Once the garlic starts to sizzle, add the red chili flakes, anchovies, and tomato paste. Stir to break up the anchovies a little bit for about 10-30 seconds.
Add the cherry tomatoes, olives, and capers. Stir for about a minute or two to let the vegetables develop flavor with the oil.
Add the white wine. Bring the mixtures to a simmer and cook for about 2-3 minutes to let the wine reduce and burn off the alcohol.
Stir in the squid. Bring mixture to a simmer and cook just until the squid pieces start to turn bright white, curl, and are firm when pinched. This will only take about 1-3 minutes depending how hot your burner is. Do not overcook or the squid will be chewy.
Turn off the heat, and stir in the chopped parsley and lemon zest. Serve hot directly from the pan for easy clean up. Or serve alongside crusty bread, boiled potatoes, rice pilaf, or steamed vegetables
Notes
This recipe serves 4 as an appetizer or 2-3 as a main course.
If you don't have white wine, you can use rose or red wine. If you don't want to use wine at all, use ⅓ c water and 1 Tb fresh squeezed lemon juice.
Mis en place: Chop all the vegetables first, wipe down the cutting board, and then pull out the calamari from the fridge to clean and cut it. Then you only have to wash the cutting board once. This recipe cooks quickly, so all the ingredients should be ready to go before you heat the pan.
Prep the ingredients beforehand, so you only have to spend 10-15 minutes cooking the dish when you're ready to eat.
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