Pan-Fried Calamari

Fresh calamari is nothing like the chewy pre-cooked or greasy deep-fried version that most people are familiar with. It has a sublime, very slight seafood taste to it and a texture that has a bite to it without being rubbery. Its soft, delicate flavour means calamari in many ways is a blank template for whatever flavour you want to add.

This recipe incredibly simple, allowing the flavour to shine through without overpowering the dish with too many things at one time. It's great as a starter or as a tapas dish.


Recipe
Fresh prepared squid purchased from your fish monger or counter; I've used four squid here
Chili of your preferred amount
A few cloves garlic, to taste
Olive oil
Lemon
Parsley, chopped
Salt
Pepper

Just a few ingredients

Step 1
Cut your squid into rings. To do this, lie the squid along a horizontal plane and make 2-3 cm vertical cuts along the length.

First piece cut

You may or may not want to use the tentacles. Personally, I like them. There's often a hard bit just near the top where they adjoin which I like to cut off before cooking.

All chopped

Step 2
Heat a small glug of olive oil in a pan on high heat. Add the squid, garlic, and chilli, stirring frequently. Season with salt and pepper. For this recipe I used peperoncino intero, small dried whole chilies that we picked up in Sicily that pack a strong kick to them, but either fresh or dried chilies would suit this dish.

Step 3
The calamari will cook in about 5 minutes or less. As it cooks it will shrink and the edges of the rings will begin to curl. The colour will turn to white as opposed to the milky colour of raw calamari and the calamari will begin to brown.

Step 4
When the calamari begins to brown finish with a big squeeze of lemon.

Step 5
Plate, sprinkle with parsley, serve and enjoy!

The finished product