I have played with calamari a lot at home to replicate what we all know as the favorite appetizer but the reality of it is, if you don't deep fry it, you'll never achieve that same outside crisp and the calamari being done properly.
As a food, it cooks extremely fast at a high heat so the 45 seconds is very real. However, to get that heat out of your saute pan, you're not going to be able to bread it..
If you bought the cleaned calamari (tubes & tentacles), as mentioned make sure to check them as I too have pulled many a beak and rib from them.
If you'd like to try doing a stuffed calamari.. cut open the tubes and season with olive oil, salt & pepper. Make a stuffing with some bread crumbs, parsley (fresh), chopped tentacles, garlic and cherry tomatoes cut in half. Place the filling in the center of each tube and seal with a toothpick at the top. Drizzle a little more olive oil and a splash of white wine over the top. Bake it at 350 for about 20 minutes.... You can serve it with a parsley pesto on the side.  |