Tender Stuffed Calamari (Sicilian Style): Baked in a tomato sauce with olives

There’s more to life than fried calamari. This stuffed calamari recipe will have you forget all about it. It’s stuffed with a savory breadcrumb filling and baked in a rich tomato sauce with briny olives. If you are looking for a seafood dish for Christmas Eve or just Friday nights then this is a great one to have in your Italian fish recipe repertoire.
Serves 4 people as a main course
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 30 to 45 minutes
Ingredients:
8 whole cleaned calamari (with tentacles if possible)
150 grams of stale bread or bread crumbs
1 egg beaten
¼ cup of grated parmesan
1 garlic clove grated
¼ cup of capers
Minced tentacles from the squid
¼ cup of chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon of Extra virgin olive oil
250 grams of whole peeled tomatoes in a can
½ cup of olives
Salt and pepper to taste
Preparation:
Preheat an oven to 375°F before preparing the calamari.
Finely mince the tentacles and set them aside. In a bowl, add the breadcrumbs or stale bread, the grated cheese, the capers, fresh parsley, olive oil and then grate a garlic clove into the mixture. Add a beaten egg and combine all the ingredients. If it seems dry then add a little more olive oil.
Using a spoon fill the calamari tubes until they are ¾ filled. Use a toothpick to close the ends. In a baking dish, add the tomatoes and then crush them with a spoon if you are using large tomatoes. If you use cherry tomatoes then leave them whole. Add some salt and pepper and the olives.
Layer the calamari into the dish and then cover with more of the sauce. Place the baking dish in the center of the preheated oven and bake for 30 to 45 minutes or until you can pierce them with a knife easily.
Serve immediately.

[@davidh9844]

I'm a nice Jewish boy from New York who lived in Italy for seven years. My wife is one of the top Italian cooks here in suburban Atlanta, and since retiring, I'm learning fast. We have never done stuffed calamari, I have no idea why. I've just watched 3 videos, and it's pretty obvious that there are as many recipes as there are regions in Italy (or Brooklyn for that matter.) I was thinking about olives and salted capers - heresy for one recipe. I saw one with breadcrumbs and pecorino cheese - as you said, Italian heresy to mix cheese with a fish dish- feh, scadente! Well, it's going to be Calamare ripiene this week, fatto con granchio (crab), tentacoli trittate (chopped tenticles), olive, brucchio di limone (lemon zest), and a San Marzanno (Naples) based tomato sauce. Stewed in the tomato sauce, not baked in the oven. I just wish there were some way that I could ever thank Italy for what that little country gave me personally, and my family.

[@dryadnymphh]

Look so delicious

[@elenistamatakis9246]

Thank you for sharing the calamari recipe. It looks 👌 🎉 I'm going to make it soon.

[@trixiedelight9874]

Hi Sal. I'm so glad to see you make this recipe. My mom being 100%Italian made these for years, then after moving to California, it was never made here 😑 I'm happy to see your recipe as it looks very tasty 🇮🇹💋

[@awhalewatcher]

Looks great! I’m stuffing squid tubes tonight with some leftover baked eggplant and tomato from last night’s dinner 😊

[@scottab140]

Stuffed Calamari Sicilian Style 8 whole cleaned calamari with tentacles if possible 150 g of stale bread or bread crumbs 1 egg beaten ¼ cup of grated parmesan cheese 1 garlic clove grated ¼ cup of capers Minced tentacles from the squid ¼ cup of fresh parsley chopped 1 tbsp of Extra virgin olive oil 250 g of whole peeled tomatoes in a can ½ cup of olives Salt and pepper to taste Preheat an oven to 375°F before preparing the calamari. Finely mince the tentacles and set them aside. In a bowl, add the breadcrumbs or stale bread, the grated cheese, the capers, fresh parsley, olive oil. Grate a garlic clove into the mixture. Add a beaten egg and combine all the ingredients. If it seems dry then add a little more olive oil. Using a spoon fill the calamari tubes until they are ¾ filled. Use a toothpick to close the ends. In a baking dish, add the tomatoes and then crush them with a spoon if you are using large tomatoes. If you use cherry tomatoes then leave them whole. Add some salt and pepper and the olives. Layer the calamari into the dish and then cover with more of the sauce. Place the baking dish in the center of the preheated oven and bake for 30 to 45 minutes or until you can pierce them with a knife easily. Serve immediately.

[@Mark-rd1it]

Looks good. I will be making it later today.

[@jeremylee8844]

THIS WAS FANTASTIC! I personally the second time I made it I added crab to the stuffing mix and didn't add mint.

[@AllNaturalSkinCare1]

Awesome❤

[@cindy2418]

This looks delcious

[@marieta.s]

Interesting to see what the Italians are putting in their stuffed calamari. In Greece instead of bread crumbs we use rice which makes the dish more filling. 😃

[@actuallyitalian]

There are probably more spices in the Greek version, too, I would imagine. Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@marieta.s]

@@actuallyitalian yeah every version has different spices. I just thought to comment on the difference of the main ingredients 😀

[@kathleenmurray5866]

My mom has celiac so I use rice too, it is always delicious :)

[@angiestojanovski1463]

WowWOwWOW looks delicious

[@Nalhirrim]

Thanks!

[@shivdurgamandirjamalpur3096]

Nice sharing 🙏🙏🙏

[@LaniesKitchen]

Looks very good. Thanks for sharing your recipe

[@stanblanch1]

Thank you for posting this Sal. I will prepare this for dinner tonight.i have done this before with rice. I note your comments about cooking squid very quickly in other recipes but in NZ the squid is like a tyre even after a min or two. I don't have this problem with Squid in Australia.???? It's a mystery to me😊

[@donnacallahan1368]

You can use a pastry bag to fill the squid. Or a plastic gallon size zip lock bag and snip a corner and use as a pastry bag.

[@AudreyFelice-cd8tj]

Before you put in the cooker, you have to seal the calamari in a pan with some fresh garlic and onions. Well done 😊

[@carmenventuro5087]

Can you stuff the calamari and put in refrigerator over night then cook calamari the next day?

[@charlesparr1611]

Yes you can, but it's better if you don't, as parts of the filling will weep moisture. What you can do is everything but the final mixing and the stuffing, each ingredient prepped and ready to go. That would let you get the dish cooking within about 15 minutes or less. I've made a lot of these as a professional chef, and I didn't think it was a good idea to hold them any longer than absolutely necessary. They do also taste really good if you cook them, then chill the and slice them and eat them cold. You may want to increase the level of seasoning (everything but the salt) if you try that, but it's delicious. Serve with a chilled romesco or asomething mayo-based if having them cold.

[@nessuno9945]

Where's the white wine? I always brown the stuffed squid in olive oil, to them I add some good white wine, then basil, tomatoes, olives a little pepperoncini, etc...transfer skillet to preheated oven to finish. It's always better with the wine. I also add anchovies and parsley to the stuffing.

[@UncleHoCM]

😊

[@JulesMoyaert_photo]

👍❤🙏

[@rogerjob2780]

🚍⚓️🇬🇧🍷👍

[@ChefKevinRiese]

It took 45 minutes to bc you did not precook the filling and did NOT sear the squid!

[@AgnesDandois]

Parler plus vite c’est possible !!! Impossible de suivre la recette !!!!

[@poorasslawstudent]

Dude, you live in Italy, it's time to learn to use a knife and fork without swapping them between hands.

[@charlesparr1611]

It's a bit silly to tell an American not to use perfectly acceptable American eating techniques. Do you think we Canadians criticize people who show up using European knife and fork techniques? No, we don't. Why? Because the first rule of table manners is not caring like an asshole to your host. Kind of like you are acting here.

[@poorasslawstudent]

@@charlesparr1611 You need to understand the basis of my comment. I'm an American who has lived in Europe, and it's not so much that I care but I know that most Europeans do; and eating like an American in Europe will negatively affect him.

[@charlesparr1611]

@@poorasslawstudent That's a big load of horseshit.