Fresh from the Sea!

I found a steal of a deal on squid or calamari at my local grocery store this week, and I got some purple potatoes in my CSA box too. So, I decided to see what I could make with these delicious ingredients from what I had on hand, and found that most of my cook books shy away from the beautiful squiddy, except for this wonderful coffee table cook book given to me by my dear friend Karen.

It is called Italy Today The Beautiful Cookbook: Contemporary recipes reflecting simple, fresh Italian cooking and is authored by Lorenza De'Medici and Fred Plotkin.
I found a recipe for Calamari Alle Patate E Prezzemolo or Stewed Squid with Potatoes and Parsley on page 151.

I had most all of the ingredients called for except for parsley. I'm substituting Pasta Sprinkle from Penzey's Spices for this ingredient.

 So, I'm making half a recipe. Here's what the original recipe which feeds six people, calls for.

3 lb squid
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic
pinch of red pepper flakes
4 cups canned tomatoes, roughly chopped, with their juices
3 large boiling potatoes, peeled and diced
salt
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf (Italian) parsley

I got my squid already cleaned from the store. If you are using a big piece like mine, just dice the thing. If not, here's how to clean it from the book. "To clean the squid, pull the tentacles from each body. Discard the entrails, ink sac and cartilage from the body. Cut the tentacles off at the point just about the eyes and discard the head. Rinse the body and tentacles under cold water."
Now it's time to get cooking. So you take the olive oil, heat it on medium, and put your minced, diced, crushed, or otherwise beaten garlic in the hot oil along with the chili flakes. It will look something like this.

Next, after you see some color, add your squid and stir, then cover it tightly with foil, remove the foil, and replace it with a lid. Let it stew for about half an hour. It will look like this.

Now, it's time to look at those beautiful other ingredients you've got going on. I'm using pre-diced Italian style canned tomatoes, beautiful purple potatoes, and some special spice.

Now, at the half hour mark, add the tomatoes, the potatoes, some salt, and stir the whole thing up. Achieve simmer, and let it stew for about forty more minutes, covered.



At the end, you can eat this as a stew, or do like me and put it over pasta with a little cheese on top. Don't forget to add your parsley, spices, or other specialness right at the end. The sauce is done when it looks shiny and the potatoes are cooked all the way through.

Enjoy this delightfully strong, wonderfully Italian stew. Until next time, Happy Eating!