Octopus, Calamari, Seppie, Etc.
Spicy Calabrian Squid
Ingredients:
2.6 pounds (1.2 k) very fresh quid, cleaned
2/5 cup (1 dl) olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
Ground cayenne pepper to taste
3 tablespoons minced parsley
The juice of 2 lemons
Salt to taste
Preparation:
Heat the oil in an ample, deep skillet with the garlic, and as soon as the garlic begins to color add the fish. Dust with salt and cayenne pepper and cook, stirring, over a brisk flame, for 3-5 minutes (if you overcook it, it will toughen).
Remove from the fire, garnish with the parsley and the lemon juice, and serve at once.
A wine? White, and since the recipe is Calabrian, I'd go with a Ciró Bianco
Stuffed Cuttlefish Pugliese Style, With a Bread Filling
Ingredients:
6 large cuttlefish
2 1/4 pounds (1 k) potatoes, peeled and thickly sliced
4 ounces (120 g) fairly mild pecorino, grated
2 eggs
1 1/3 cups (120 g) bread crumbs
3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
A small bunch parsley, minced
Salt and pepper to taste
Olive oil
Optional: A salted anchovy fillet, and a few salted capers
Optional: A large onion, peeled and finely sliced
Preparation:
Begin by cleaning the cuttlefish, if necessary: remove the eyes, beaks, bones, and ink sacks (carefully lest they break, and freeze them for the next time you make risotto al nero di seppie). Remove the heads and tentacles, and chop them using a knife and chopping board. Do not use a blender because the tentacles will simply wrap around the blades.
Beat the eggs in a bowl and combine with them most of the bread crumbs, parsley, and cheese. Add all of the garlic. If you are including the anchovy fillet crumble it and add it, and if you are including the salted capers rinse them, chop them, and add them.
Season the mixture with salt and pepper to taste, add a tablespoon or two of olive oil, and mix well. Carefully spoon the mixture into the cavities of the cuttlefish bodies and close them with toothpicks.
While you are doing this, heat your oven to 400 F (200 C)
Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of lightly salted water in the bottom of a roasting pan large enough to hold the cuttlefish bodies with a little space between them, and line it with a layer of potato slices. Lay the cuttlefish bodies over the sliced potato, and sprinkle the chopped tentacles between them.
Cover with another layer of potato slices.
Sprinkle the remaining cheese, parsley, and breadcrumbs over the upper potato layer. Season with salt and pepper, drizzle another tablespoon or two of water and a tablespoon or two of olive oil over all, and bake for about an hour, checking on them part way through, and covering the potatoes with aluminum foil if need be.
The wine? A Castel del Monte Bianco.
Serves 6.
Italian Drowned Octopus Antipasto
Ingredients:
An octopus weighing about 2 1/4 pounds (1 k)
A medium sized bunch of parsley, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic
The juice of a lemon
Extravirgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Toothpicks
Preparation:
Clean the octopus and rinse it well under running water. Put it in a pot with abundant cold water to cover, and set it on a burner.
As a general rule, figure an hour of cooking time per kilo of weight of octopus, or about 25 minutes per pound, so here you will need to simmer your octopus for an hour; to check for doneness stick the base of a tentacle with a skewer or toothpick. If it penetrates easily the octopus is done.
Turn off the heat and let it cool some in the water it boiled in.
While the octopus is boiling, wash and pat dry the parsley, peel the garlic cloves, and mince the parsley with the garlic.
Drain the octopus, cut it onto bite-sized pieces, and arrange them on a serving dish. Sprinkle the minced herbs over the octopus, followed by the lemon juice, and then a drizzle of olive oil. Season lightly with salt and pepper, stick the pieces with toothpicks, and serve either warm or cool as you prefer.
Serves 4.
Fried Calamari
Ingredients:
1 pound (450 g) calamaro rings (Italian fishmongers cut the bodies of calamari into rings for their patrons)
2/3 cup flour
4 tablespoons semolina
4 eggs
Oil for deep frying
Lemon wedges
Salt
Preparation:
Rinse the rings and pat them dry.
Heat your oil.
Lightly beat the eggs in a bowl. Put the flour in a second bowl and dredge the rings in it, shaking them to remove excess. Dip the floured rings in the egg, and then in the semolina, and fry them in several batches until golden in the hot oil.
Drain them well on absorbent paper, salt them, and serve them at once with lemon wedges.
Buon appetito!
