Ink-credibly Easy Homemade Calamari

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! My favorite meal of the year is on Christmas Eve: The Seven Fishes. My fondest Christmas Eve memories include anxiously and excitedly sitting through 4pm mass, knowing we'd soon be traveling to Nonna's and Nonno's for dinner. Dinner consisted of cold baccala (Italian-style salt cod) salad, fried baccala and cauliflower, shrimp scampi, fried calamari, spaghetti two ways (octopus in the tomato sauce and a garlic, olive oil, and anchovy mixture), and eel and smelts way back when. Don't even get me started on Christmas lunch... I'd love to go on and on, but let's stay on topic...

...And that topic is CALAMARI!

Calamari is my family's go-to appetizer. I can easily describe it as crispy, golden brown, crunchy seasoned bites of sometimes chewy but mostly tender morsels of squid rings or tentacles dipped in acidic tomato sauce to cut the oil. A squirt of lemon adds an important acidic zing as well. A mouthful of words to describe a mouthful of deliciousness. In past years, we've ordered our calamari from Olive Garden for pick-up. When portion sizes and quality decreased, we looked to our local restaurants. Again, with price to portion ratio being a 👏🏼complete 👏🏼disappointment, I took our calamari side dish into my own hands this year!

I combined a few recipes that I found online (mostly looking to Giada De Laurentiis) to execute this EASY favorite.

Servings: 8

2 lb. of fresh, cleaned squid-- cut into rings and soaked in milk for 3 hours prior to frying

1.5 cups of flour, sifted

2 tsp. of salt

1 tsp of garlic powder

2 tsp dried parsley

Canola oil

I set aside a bit of squid for my dad* and fried his batch first.

*Gluten-Free coating:

Equal parts cornmeal and cornstarch

Salt

These directions come directly from Giada's recipe on Food Network's website:

"Pour enough oil into a heavy large saucepan to reach the depth of 3 inches. Heat over medium heat to 350 degrees F. Mix the flour, parsley, salt, and [garlic] in a large bowl. Working in small batches, toss the squid into the flour mixture to coat. Carefully add the squid to the oil and fry until crisp and very pale golden, about [2] minute[s] per batch. Using tongs or a slotted spoon, transfer the fried calamari to a paper-towel lined plate to drain." Note from Jess: Sprinkle with salt while hot.

Source: https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/fried-calamari-recipe-1915344

For the gluten-free version, do the same sans flour mixture.

It is IMPORTANT to let the oil heat back up to between 350-365 degrees before frying a new batch. I used a good meat thermometer called a Thermapen to keep track. If your oil is not hot enough, your calamari will get soggy, not crispy. Be careful of spattering when frying!

Gluten-Free version

Flour version

Enjoy with a side of tomato sauce and lemon wedges!

Buon Natale!