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Stuffed calamari recipe ( also called stuffed squid recipe) is very common in the Mediterranean countries and I discovered that is very popular during Christmas. I love it any time of the year.
In case you get confused, calamari is squid in Italian and Spanish.
There are two versions, one with tomato sauce and one without. I like the one without tomato sauce as you can better taste the squid.
I flavour it with white wine and let it simmer in its own juices.
And no, it is not too dry at all !
When your guests cut the calamari in half, they will discover the flavoured breadcrumbs mixed with the tentacles.
Each bite will be filled with flavoured seafood enhanced by garlic, lemon zest, and wine.
Stuffed Calamari Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 calamari
- 2 cup breadcrumbs
- 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- 1 sprig parsley
- 1/2 cup white wine
- olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic
Instructions
- Prepare the breadcrumbs by mixing them with the Parmesan, grated parsley, 1 grated garlic clove and the lemon zest
- Separate the calamari heads from the legs
- Make sure there is no bone left inside the heads
- Stir fry the legs with olive oil and garlic
- Cut the legs into small pieces and mix with the breadcrumbs. It is difficult to know how much breadcrumbs you can fit into each head so to avoid having leftover, combine half then combine more as needed.
- Fill the heads with the breadcrumbs mix pushing the filling all the way down. Do not overfill them as the head will shrinks when cooking and the filling will pop out if it is too full
- Close the ends with a toothpick and pierce the heads so the juices can come out while the heads cook and shrink
- Add 1/2 glass of white wine, cover and let it simmer for 10 to 15 minutes depending on the size of the calamari.
- Once they are ready, place them on the serving dish, remove the toothpick from the heads and pour the juices on top
- If you have any legs left a side serve them with the calamari
I didn’t even know calamari could be stuffed! This sounds like a great recipe for the New Year!
Yes, perfect for New Year celebration
I got to know about stuffed calamari from my father in law. He would stuff them with a mixture of spices with scraped coconut. It was divine, especially when the calamari melts in your mouth! We are lucky to be near the sea and calamari are usually cheap here so I will try your version some time in the future. 🙂
That sounds like a nice combination. Calamari are normally reasonably priced and it is such a great dish.
I had no idea you could stuff calamari! I wonder if we can get the right squid where I live – I’ll have to check! Sounds delicious! 🙂
Hopefully, you should. If not fresh may be frozen. As long as it is a good quality brand it would work well anyway
I love calamari but didn’t realise it could be stuffed! I definitely need to give this a try now!
Oh yes, and they are delicious
This looks wonderful Laura, calamari is one of my favourites!
Thank you Emily