📋Italian Stuffed Calamari Recipe

This stuffed calamari recipe is a classic Italian dish, squid tubes are stuffed with a mix of breadcrumbs flavored with garlic, parsley, and (yes) Parmesan cheese. The sweetness of the calamari are enhanced by the white wine sauce and contrasted by the scent of the lemon zest. A delicious seafood to serve as a main on any festive occasions.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Mediterranean

Keyword stuffed calamari, stuffed seafood, stuffed squid

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 20

Total Time 35

Servings people

Calories 266kcal

Author Laura Tobin

Equipment

Ingredients

8 calamari
2 cup breadcrumbs
¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 sprig fresh parsley
½ cup dry white wine
olive oil
2 cloves peeled garlic cloves
1 teaspoon salt

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Prepare the breadcrumbs by mixing them with the Parmesan, grated parsley, 1 grated garlic clove and the lemon zest
2 cup breadcrumbs, ¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan, 1 teaspoon lemon zest, 1 sprig fresh parsley, 2 cloves peeled garlic cloves
Separate the calamari tubes from the legs
8 calamari
Make sure there is no bone left inside the tubes
Stir fry the legs with olive oil and garlic
olive oil, 2 cloves peeled garlic cloves
Cut the legs into small pieces and mix with the breadcrumbs. It is difficult to know how much breadcrumbs you can fit into each tube so to avoid having leftover, combine half then combine more as needed.
Fill the tubes with the breadcrumbs mix pushing the filling all the way down. Do not overfill them as the tube will shrinks when cooking and the filling will pop out if it is too full
Close the ends with a toothpick
Season with salt
1 teaspoon salt
Stir fry the calamari until they become slightly white and pierce the tubes so the juices can come out while they cook and shrink
Add ½ glass of white wine, cover and let it simmer for 10 to 15 minutes depending on the size of the calamari. If you want red stuffed calamari you can add your tomato sauce after the wine then cook for 10 to 15 minutes
½ cup dry white wine
Once they are ready, place them on a cutting board and remove the toothpick from the tubes
Cut them in slices and place them on a serving dish
Pour the juices on top and if you have any legs left a side serve them with the calamari

Video

Notes

I use large size squid with a long tube/head so it can hold enough stuffing. The tube/head tends to shrink when cooked so the longer the better.
Make sure there is no bone left inside the tubes
It is difficult to know how much breadcrumbs you can fit into each tube so to avoid having leftover, combine half of the tentacles first then combine more as needed.
Do not overfill the calamari with the stuffing as the tubes will shrinks when cooking and the filling will pop out if it is too full
If you want to make red stuffed calamari add tomato sauce after the white wine has evaporated then cook for the last 10 to 15 minutes.

Nutrition