Filled Calamari - What i put in there?

I stuff mine with rice.  In the rice I usually put onions, herbs, diced tomato.

I hate to break this to you, but butter will melt and run out and your calamari won't be stuffed for long.  If butter is big on your agenda, make a beurre blanc or something. 

I use rice or bread, dry or moistened with stock, wine, olive oil, melted butter, citrus juice, and/or eggs; seasoned with herbs and aromatics; sometimes tomato; sometimes bits of fruit or some raisins; sometimes crumbled sausage; sometimes chopped shrimp; sometimes chopped oysters, sometimes capers; sometimes pine nuts or pistachios. 

I don't see why you couldn't stuff with something like a lobster or scallop mousse.  Shellfish mousse is a common seafood farce; but I've never stuffed a calamari with one. 

Bread crumbs, shallot, a bit of pimento or minced jalapeno or Fresno, pine nuts, minced anchovy, rosemary and mint, toasted briefly in oil before stuffing, is probably my favorite.  Brush with garlic, herb oil.  Roast over charcoal on two skewers.  Sauce with the same garlic infused olive oil, seasoned with more chopped rosemary and mint; and a lemon squeeze.  

It's a very adaptable, mild tasting creature, goes with lots of things, and can be fried, poached, baked, or grilled after stuffing.  There's very little you can't do -- but if you're stuffing, the stuffing needs some substance. 

BDL

One more bit of information would be to blanch the tubes first. If you stuff them whole and go to cook them they will seize up and all the filling will come out.

I make a mixture of fresh breadcrumbs, ricotta cheese minced garlic and shallots, fresh herbs and grated Parmesan. I hold it together with an egg add salt and pepper. The tubes are then braised in tomato sauce.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chefross 

One more bit of information would be to blanch the tubes first. If you stuff them whole and go to cook them they will seize up and all the filling will come out.

I make a mixture of fresh breadcrumbs, ricotta cheese minced garlic and shallots, fresh herbs and grated Parmesan. I hold it together with an egg add salt and pepper. The tubes are then braised in tomato sauce.

I try not to overstuff mine and then I bake them covered in the oven with a little wine in the pan for a little braise.  I then uncover at the end to get a golden color.

god, i love stuffed calamari...i remember watching my grandmother and her sisters make this several ways...sometimes they would stuff it with pasta with sauteed onions, eggplant, garlic, mushrooms, the cut up tentacles and peas(cuz i love peas), they filled the pouches being careful not to overfill. they sewed the tops with a darning needle and fried them in olive oil, turned and fried again....added tomatoes, whole garlic, wine,spices, cinnamon, covered and braised for about an hour.....they pulled the pouches, let them rest, cut off the seamed tops, sliced the calamari and served the pan tomato sauce over them....think we had it with polenta...sometimes they stuffed the calamari with a ricotta-spinach-egg mix, and sometimes just with breadcrumbs, parsley, parm, garlic, egg, the cut up tentacles and olive oil. fried and braised the same way. the sacs do indeed shrink up, but if you are careful not to overfill, it should be just fine. today i fill mine with tricolor orzo mixed with whatever i have on hand...always peas though...i make them the sme way, but use toothpicks..fry in a pan then braise for about 45 minutes. another way i really, really enjoy calamari that is quick, quick...mix olive oil, lemon juice, vinegar and salt...brush on calamari and grill just till charred...turn over and do the same...serve with lemon....parsley too(italian flatleaf)...ok, now i want some!

joey

I'd tend to go with bread crumbs with oil and garlic and parsley.  Too much stuff is going to distract from the actual taste.  You could also do melted butter with the crumbs, if you like it. 

I like to stuff calamari with beef boiled in gin (Plymouth gin is best) and then lightly pepper and breadcrumb the outside. Delicious!!

In Spain and Italy, most chefs or cooks make a stuffing with langoustines or prawns and chopped squid with breadcrumbs and parsley mixture ...

I'm amazed at the number of approaches mentioned that do not include the tentacles. What all are you doing with them when you make stuffed calamari?

One of my favorites, for instance, is to make the stuffing with saffron rice and the chopped up tentacles, served on a bed of caramelized onions.

I just leave the tentacles attached! 

I steal the tentacles!  Dust them with a little flour and fry them up and sprinkled with sea salt.  Mine.

By. Margcata

Personally, I prefer a simply simple Sicilian spinach, breadcrumb and pinenut filling for squid however, here is one from the Balearic Island of Mallorca with a ground pork stuffing ...

serves 4 ...

two dozen squid 6cm ( 2 inches )

120g ground pork ( or veal if you choose )

1 tblsp finely chopped parsley

2 small onions

8 garlic cloves minced

45g breadcrumbs ( chapata Italian bread 1 day old better to work with )

salt and white pepper to taste

2 tblsp olive oil

500ml fish stock

2 tblsp Sherry ( Fino )

2 tblsp extra virgin olive oil

1/2 tsp dried red chili pepper

1 medium tomato finely chopped

10 Saffron threads

2 tblsp boiling water

pinch of sweet paprika

1) Have fish nmmonger clean squid and remove skin

2) wash and drain squid

3) place ground pork in a food processor, grind one onion, the parsley, and 1 garlic clove together

4) add pinenuts, 2 tblsp bread crumbs, salt and pepper

5) mix well and then blend with pork and stuff loosely into the squid, not tightly, in other words do not over fill

6) secure openings if desired with tooth picks

7) place in a well buttered baking dish and bake at 180 degrees Centig or 375 farenheit degrees covered with alumninum foil 15 mins

8) turn over the squid and bake uncovered 8 to 10 mins more  

9) sauté remaining minced onion, garlic and bread crumbs in extra virgin olive oil

10) place the sauteed mixture in a food processor with a bit of olive oil and almonds and grind the ingredients to a smooth paste, adding a little fish stock and simmer a few mins.

11) Add paprika, chili seeds and tomato and cook to a smooth sauce

12) add the saffron with boiling water and stir to extract color and cook briefly

13) pass thru a sieve on plate in cart wheel formation and drizzle sauce on squid