Stuffed Calamari in Tomato Sauce (Calamari Ripieni)
Stuffed Calamari in Tomato Sauce is filled with a delicious and light bread and seafood mixture with aromatics, white wine and pecorino cheese, then simmered in a fragrant tomato sauce until tender. Perfect over pasta or on its own, it’s a great year-round entrée that many enjoy on Christmas Eve.
Servings: 8 servings
Equipment
- Dutch oven or rondeau/large braising pot
Ingredients
- 2 pounds cleaned calamari (See Notes.)
- 1 pound spaghetti, linguine or other long, thin pasta + salt for pasta water (optional; see Notes.)
- Black, oil-cured olives, pitted and chopped (optional topping)
For the Filling:
- Any calamari tentacles that you have, chopped (See Notes.)
- ½ pound mixed seafood, such as shrimp, bay scallops or crab meat (I used shrimp and scallops); chopped into small pieces
- 3 cups day-old bread, small diced
- ½ cup finely chopped or minced yellow onion
- ½ cup chopped flat-leaf/Italian parsley + more for topping
- ¼ cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese
- 6 Tbsp dry white wine such as Pinot Grigio
- 1 Tbsp minced garlic
- ½ tsp salt
- Pinch black pepper
- Pinch crushed red pepper (optional)
For the Tomato Sauce:
- 6 Tbsp olive oil
- ½ cup chopped or hand-torn fresh basil leaves (or 1 Tbsp dried basil)
- 2 Tbsp chopped garlic
- Pinch crushed red pepper (optional)
- ½ cup dry white wine such as Pinot Grigio
- 2 (24-ounce) bottles tomato passata or your favorite canned tomato, hand-crushed if whole
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ½ tsp dried oregano
Instructions
- Prep: Gather all ingredients according to the specifications above. Clean the calamari if you did not purchase them already cleaned (See Notes below for details.) Rinse the tubes and tentacles well under lightly running water, then drain in a colander. (NOTE: Sand seems to hide in the tentacles, so be sure to rinse them very thoroughly.) Pat dry with paper towels and separate the tubes from the tentacles. Chop the tentacles for the filling.(Please see the section above in the blog post for Step-By-Step instructions with photos.)2 pounds cleaned calamari
- Make the Filling: Next, make the calamari filling by combining the following ingredients in a bowl and mixing until well-combined: chopped calamari tentacles and other seafood, bread, onion, parsley, grated cheese, wine, garlic and spices.Any calamari tentacles that you have,, ½ pound mixed seafood,, 3 cups day-old bread,, ½ cup finely chopped or minced yellow onion, ½ cup chopped flat-leaf/Italian parsley , ¼ cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese, 6 Tbsp dry white wine, 1 Tbsp minced garlic, ½ tsp salt, Pinch black pepper, Pinch crushed red pepper
- Stuff the Calamari: This part takes a bit of finesse and patience. While some recipes recommend using a pastry bag to pipe the filling into the squid, this filling is not a creamy enough consistency to do so and is a bit chunky. Using either a very small spoon or your fingers (I used my fingers), carefully fill the calamari tube with the stuffing, leaving about ¾” at the top unstuffed. This is because the squid will shrink as it cooks and excessive stuffing will ooze out. Fasten the calamari with a toothpick and set these aside while you start the sauce. (See Notes below about prepping these one day in advance.)NOTE: If the tube opening is just a bit too small, you can take some kitchen shears and cut the tube a very small bit just to make the opening a bit larger and easier to stuff. I had to do this with several of the small calamari. The trick is to not cut too much. Be very careful if you decide to do this and cut slowly.
- Make the Sauce: When ready to cook the calamari, start the tomato sauce. Pour the olive oil into a Dutch oven, large braiser or rondeau over medium-low heat. Add the garlic, fresh basil and crushed red pepper, if including, and cook until the garlic has softened (about 5 minutes). Cover the pot for a couple minutes to speed up the softening process, if desired. (NOTE: If using dried basil, add it along with the tomatoes.)6 Tbsp olive oil, ½ cup chopped or hand-torn fresh basil leaves , 2 Tbsp chopped garlic, Pinch crushed red pepper
- Pour in the wine and deglaze the pot, scraping up any brown bits. Then, add the tomatoes, salt, black pepper and dried oregano and stir to fully combine everything. Increase the heat to medium and bring the mixture to a light simmer. Carefully add all of the stuffed calamari to the pot, making sure to submerge them as much as possible in the sauce.½ cup dry white wine, 2 (24-ounce) bottles tomato passata, 1 tsp salt, ½ tsp black pepper, ½ tsp dried oregano
- Cook the Calamari: Partially cover and bring the sauce back to a simmer over medium heat, stirring (carefully) a few times. Uncover, reduce heat to a low simmer and simmer for about 45 to 60 minutes or until the calamari are very tender, stirring occasionally. Be sure to keep the sauce at a low simmer and stir (gently) regularly–you don’t want the calamari to stick to the bottom and burn!The best way to determine if the calamari are ready is to test one. Note that the actual length of time may vary based on the size of the calamari. The calamari in the photos above simmered in the sauce for about 60 minutes.
- Make Pasta and Serve: Once the calamari is tender, it is ready to serve (once the toothpicks are removed)! If, however, you are also making pasta along with it, this is what I suggest:• Start cooking the pasta once the calamari is finished. Add salt, then the pasta, to boiling water and stir.• While the pasta is cooking, transfer the calamari to a different pot or pan with all but about 3 cups or so sauce and hold it on low heat to keep it warm.• The reminder (3 cups) of the sauce can stay in the pot to be tossed with the pasta. Keep this remaining sauce at a medium low heat while the pasta finishes.• Cook until the pasta is not quite al dente, or about 2 minutes less than the package directions. Reserve about 1 cup or so pasta water.• Drain the pasta and stir it into the sauce to finish cooking and to absorb all those wonderful flavors. Add some pasta water if needed for extra moisture.• Transfer the stuffed squid to a serving platter, remove the toothpicks, and top with lots of sauce, the chopped parsley and optional chopped black olives and serve.• The (optional) pasta can either be served in the same platter as the calamari (under it, ideally) or in a separate bowl. Buon Appetito!1 pound spaghetti, linguine or other long, thin pasta
Notes
- The suggested recipe times assume you’re starting out with already cleaned calamari.
- You can easily cut this recipe in half or double it for a smaller or larger batch. If this is the main course, it’s enough for about 8 people. But, if this stuffed calamari in tomato sauce recipe is part of a larger buffet, such as the Feast of the Seven Fishes, it will go further. Adjust accordingly.
- Try to buy already cleaned calamari, if possible. (Most of the frozen calamari out there is already cleaned.) However, if you need to clean it yourself, you will need to remove the beak, eyes, skin and the hard quill, which is the bone-like piece inside the squid. Then, rinse the calamari under cold water. Click here for a great video on the process.
- Also, while the squid tentacles are chopped and included in the filling, it’s ok if the calamari that you buy does not come with tentacles and is tubes only. Just increase the amount of other seafood in the recipe a bit.
- Calamari comes in all sizes. My two pounds of calamari was 22 total squid, but yours may be different. So, be sure to purchase the squid by weight. Note that the calamari shrink quite a bit while cooking, so try not to buy very small squid (unless you want tiny stuffed calamari). Plus, larger squid are easier to stuff! I suggest medium sized for best results and tenderness.
- The calamari do shrink a good bit while cooking, fyi. So, it’s really important not to fully stuff them or they may burst! Leave about ¾” or so unstuffed at the top. But, it’s happened to all of us and that’s how you learn. Do your best.
- If starting with frozen calamari, be sure to fully defrost them in the refrigerator before using.
- Once the calamari is cleaned and/or defrosted, separate the rings from the tubes and pat them both dry with a paper towel to remove excess moisture before proceeding.
- The calamari can be stuffed in advance and held in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours before cooking, if desired. Package them carefully in on a sheet pan or in a large container between layers of parchment paper and seal or cover well with plastic wrap.
- You’ll have enough sauce left over to dress one pound of pasta, but the pasta in this recipe is optional and really depends on what else you’re serving. I definitely suggest it as the sauce is SO darn delicious! Having said this, the sauce freezes really well, so you can always make it with pasta on another day.
- If you’re serving this dish with lots of other dishes, say, on Christmas Eve’s Feast of the Seven Fishes, you may want to cook the stuffed calamari one day in advance for efficiency and then heat it up when ready to eat.
- This Stuffed Calamari freezes really well! For best results submerge the calamari in the sauce first. Freeze for up to 3 months in an airtight container. Thaw in the refrigerator and heat on the stove in a covered skillet over medium low heat until heated through.
- As I mentioned above, there is the quick way and the slow way to cook calamari. This above technique is the slow method that I feel is more foolproof and allows leftovers to be heated up successfully as well. However, you can also use a the quick-cooking-technique and cook the calamari and here’s how: Bring the sauce up to a boil, then add all of the calamari to the sauce, which will bring the temperature down. Bring the sauce back up to a boil, shut off the heat, cover and let it sit until you’re ready to eat it, but for at least 15 to 20 minutes. Stir a few times. Note that this technique is best with uniformly-sized calamari on the smaller side. If you try this technique, but then it becomes tough, just continue simmering it as per the recipe above until it becomes tender again.
