Braised Calamari

A month and a half after New Year's Eve, I finally got around to cooking New Year's Eve dinner. For those of you with small kitchens like mine, I would suggest having a plan before you start. I didn't and it took a bit of effort to keep the raw shrimp away from things that shouldn't have raw shrimp on them. This ended up being just about the messiest thing I've ever made in the kitchen. Luckily, it also ended up being totally delicious! The recipe is a modified version of Anne Burrell's.


Braised Calamari
olive oil
1 large onion, diced
6 cloves garlic, diced
28 oz can diced tomato
crushed red pepper
garlic powder
onion powder
dried basil
1/2 lb shrimp, cleaned and chopped
1 lb calamari
1 red pepper, chopped fine
3 handfuls spinach, chopped
2 eggs
breadcrumbs
In a large saute pan, sweat onions and 3 cloves chopped garlic in olive oil. Add diced tomato, red pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and dried basil to taste. Simmer sauce while you make calamari. Let's start by saying that you should really look for nice big calamari. The calamari I got was a little on the small side. That'll teach me to inspect the calamari before I buy it next time. In a food processor, combine shrimp and a handful of chopped calamari until it comes together as a paste. Transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl. Add red pepper, spinach, eggs, breadcrumbs, 3 cloves chopped garlic, and a generous pinch of crushed red pepper. Check sauce. You might need to add a little water if it has reduced too much. Transfer mixture to a ziploc bag (or a pastry bag if you're fancier than me). Cut corner off ziploc bag. Stuff each calamari and place in sauce. Cover and cook for 12 minutes. Flip calamari, cover, and cook for an additional 10 minutes. Remove calamari and crank up the heat on the sauce so that it reduces and thickens a bit. Serve calamari topped with sauce.