Description
Italian Christmas eve favorite – use your favorite spaghetti or tomato sauce as the base. This recipe can be doubled or tripled easily. Serve as a side, appetizer, or over pasta. Buon Natale!
Ingredients
- 2 pounds calamari, cleaned
- 4 cups tomato sauce
- 1 cup Chianti wine
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 teaspoons chopped garlic
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- ⅓ cup grated Romano cheese
Instructions
- Separate the tentacles from the long body of the calamari
- if not done already. Slice the body
- or calamari tubes into rings about 1/2 to 2/3 inch thick
- set aside.
- In a saucepan
- combine tomato sauce
- red wine
- lemon juice
- olive oil
- garlic
- black pepper
- cayenne pepper
- basil
- and cheese. Simmer on medium low for about 30 minutes to give the alcohol in the wine time to evaporate
- and all the flavors time to blend.
- Add the calamari to the sauce. Continue to slowly simmer for about another 20 – 30 minutes
- stirring occasionally. Calamari is done when it is plump and more opaque. Do not cook on higher heat or for a longer period
- as calamari is famous for becoming rubbery.
Servings: 6