You might suspect my latest hang-up is squid, and you might be right. 🙂 So far I have cooked squid in the seafood bake and for yummy sandwiches, and up next is of course calamari.

This is as far away from bad pub calamari; you know the ones that are all rubbery and difficult to chew and have soggy batter?! This is melt-in-your-mouth-soft squid in a light semolina and paprika coating, fried seconds before you munch them down with oven fries and aioli (or the lazy version: Hellman’s mayo and pressed garlic). Yum!

Calamari and oven fries, serves 2

a few potatoes

olive oil

persillade

salt and white pepper

4-5 squid tubes

3 tbsp semolina

2 tbsp corn flour

1,5 tsp paprika powder

a pinch of salt

neutral oil  (vegetable oil/ground nut oil)

For serving:

lime and lemon wedges

aioli

Wash the potatoes and keep the skin on. Cut into fries. Pour some oilve oil into an ovenproof dish and throw in the potatoes. Sprinkle some persillade, salt and white pepper over the potatoes and push them around a bit so it spreads evenly. Bake in 200C for about 40 minutes. Push the potatoes around a few times during cooking.  

Cut the squid into rings. Pour semolina, corn flour, paprika powder and salt in a large ziplock bag and shake it. Add the squid rings and shake so the rings get coated by the mixture. When the potatoes are cooked, start frying the calamari. Heat up 2 cm high of oil in a large pan. Check that it is hit enough by throwing in a small piece of bread. If it browns it is hot enough. Remove the bread and add a handful calamari. Beware of the oil splashing about. Fry until the calamaris are golden on both sides. Remove with a slotted spoon or tong, drain on some kitchen towel. Fry the remaining squid in a few batches. Serve immediately!