Friday, March 20, 2009

Kalamarakia Gemista--Stuffed Squid

This was a fairly simple and flavorful dish that the whole family loved. Inspiration for it came from a recipe by Bobby Flay which was even simpler than this. Wanting to jazz things up just a tad, I tweaked some of the ingredients to add a bit more depth of flavor.

I purchased whole squid and cleaned it myself so that we'd have plenty of tentacles as my daughter (she's four mind you) loves them. Half the tentacles went into the rice and the others cooked alongside the stuffed squid. I added some red wine to the rice mixture as it cooked and then poured some more over the stuffed squid just before baking it uncovered until tender, a mere 20 minutes or so ... and voila!

The only thing I regret is not asking for the squid's ink from my fish monger as I believe that with that ingredient the flavor of the dish would be taken to another level.



Kalamarakia Gemista
Makes 6 servings

2 to 2 1/2 pounds squid, cleaned well, tentacles removed and set aside
1/2 cup olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups rice
1 cup red wine
2 tomatoes, chopped
Small bunch parsley, chopped
Pinch of dried Greek oregano
2 1/2 cups water
2 tablespoons tomato paste, diluted in 1/3 cup water
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Chop half the tentacles, set aside and reserve the remaining tentacles intact with the whole squid pieces. Heat 1/4 cup of olive oil in a medium saucepan and cook onion until soft. Add the garlic, chopped tentacles and rice and cook one minute more. Add 1/2 cup red wine and boil for a minute or so. Stir in the tomatoes, parsley, oregano, salt, pepper and water and bring to a boil. Cover the saucepan; reduce the heat to low and cook about 15 minutes or so.

Remove the rice from the heat and allow to cool. Oil a baking dish and preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Begin stuffing the squid with the rice mixture, stacking each body in the baking dish as you go. Layer any remaining rice in the baking dish and nestle the squid amongst the rice. Add the remaining tentacles (which have been left intact) and pour the diluted tomato paste, 1/4 cup olive oil and 1/2 cup red wine over. Season well with salt and pepper and bake for 20 to 25 minutes until the squid is tender.

7 comments:

Ivy said...

Maria I love Kalamaria gemista and yours sound delicious. I made them last week, quite different, but I have so many recipes to post, don't know which one to post first.

giz said...

This is the first time that i've seen squid (other than the deep fried) that's interested me. Now I'm really curious.

Unknown said...

I stuff the with bulgur too, when I get bored of rice. Lovely recipe Maria!

gastroanthropologist said...

My husband would leave me and marry you for this. When we were in Greece we visited Naxos and he made me ride the back of this scooter clear across the island to where it was rumored to have the best stuffed squid. (I'm terrified of motorcyles and scooters!). We did have a fabulous meal, including the squid. Though I thin we both overate. The scooter refused to make it up this hill on the way back and I had to get off and walk! This looks so yummy... I love grilled squid too. Thanks for a delicious post!

Alexandra Stafford said...

oh what fun! you cleaned a whole squid? I am so insanely jealous that you know how to do that. this dish sounds delectable!

alexandra
www.alexandracooks.com

Maria Verivaki said...

i love seafood and rice - what a great combination
beautiful work

Valerie Harrison (bellini) said...

The last time I had stuffed squid I was in my very early 20's and I went squid "jigging"off the coast of the provionce of Newfoundland. I caught 20:D