Craving Calamari...

I’m a big fan of calamari and not necessarily the fried kind. In fact, calamari are very adaptable to many methods of cooking beyond the typical “bar fare”: boiled for a salad, grilled like a steak or baked to perfection (my personal favorite!).

Calamari al forno

before

* 3 medium-size calamari cleaned and chopped into 2-3 inch pieces (while I actually like the process of cleaning calamari, I imagine most people would not. Your local fish shop should be able to clean them for you and take away any “yuck” factor.)

* 1/2 cup of olive oil

* 1/2 cup of white wine

* red pepper flakes to taste

* 2 cloves of minced garlic

* 1 lemon

* prezzemolo (Italian parsley) - if you like

* bread crumbs

In a bowl or zip lock bag, combine the calamari pieces, olive oil, wine, pepper flakes, garlic, lemon and parsley. Let sit in refrigerator for a few hours. Heat oven at 375 degree (180 celsius). Place calamari mixture on a covered cookie sheet. Try to lay them flat, not on top of each other if possible. Sprinkle bread crumbs over the top. Put in oven and cook for approximately 10 minutes or until the calamari has turned an opaque white and roles up on the ends. Serve hot.

This is such an easy dish and absolutely delicious. Introduce yourself and your friends to a new way to do calamari. You can’t go wrong here.

after

BUON APPETITO!