shrimp stuffed squid

serves 4

• 12 med. size cleaned squid, bodies and tentacles. if you’re starting with squid that’s not cleaned check our squid cleaning video
• 10 oz. wild gulf – peeled and deveined, tails off
• 1 t finely chopped garlic
• 2 t finely chopped onion
• 1/4 cup panko crumbs or dried bread crumbs
• 1 small egg
• drake’s batter mix, or seasoned flour
• olive oil
• 1/2 bunch of finely chopped italian parsley
• toothpick

for the tomato sauce

• 2  28 oz. cans of italian plum tomatoes, san marzano is a good brand.
• 2 t imported italian plum tomato paste
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 small onion chopped
• 4 cloves garlic finely chopped
• 2 t chopped fresh basil
• 1 t dried oregano
• pinch of red pepper flakes
• splash of white wine
• salt and pepper

heat sauce pan over med-high heat. add olive oil, when oil is hot add onion and garlic, stir ‘till they just start to brown. add tomatoes, tomato paste, oregano, basil, pepper flakes, salt and pepper. stirring occasionally, bring to boil, add a splash of wine, then reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

for the stuffing

in a food processor, purée shrimp. transfer to a mixing bowl, stir in onion, garlic, egg and crumbs (use a rubber spatula and mix thoroughly). with a small spoon stuff each squid. push stuffing towards the tail end, to evenly fill the body leaving about an inch unstuffed at the end (stuffing expands during cooking). save tentacles to fry or add to tomato sauce with stuffed squid. stick a toothpick in the ends and snip off a bit of length of toothpick so squid will lay flat in pan.

dust stuffed squid in drake’s batter mix. heat pan over med-high heat, add enough olive oil to cover bottom and brown the squid, about 2-3 minutes a side. carefully transfer squid (and tentacles if you aren’t frying them) into pan with sauce, cover and simmer over low heat for 20 minutes. check sauce on occasion and add a small splash of wine if it’s getting too thick and spoon sauce over squid while you’re at it.

give yourself about 10 minutes towards the end of sauce cooking time if you’d like to fry the tentacles for a garnish. dip them in half and half or milk, dust in drake’s and in a small pan, over med-high, heat enough oil to cover them. when sizzling hot, fry until golden brown (about 2-3 minutes) and drain over paper towel or paper bag .

arrange squid over sauce on a nice platter, garnish with fried tentacles and sprinkle with parsley. serve with sharp knives (for even cuts). if serving as appetizers, pre slice and serve with cocktail forks or toothpicks.