This recipe was inspired by an apetizer I had in a Basque restaurant in San Franciso. The calamari is not breaded, but essentially stir fried with a number of robust ingredients. I looked up various recipes for this traditional Spanish tapa and threw together my own creation below:
Ingredients:
- 6 - 8 lbs of calmari rings and tenticles (tubes can easily be cut in to rings)
- 2 jalapeno peppers, chopped
- 1 Tbsp kalamata olives, chopped
- 2.5 oz chorizo
- 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
- 4 tsp. minced garlic
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1 crushed red pepper
- 1/4 lemon, juiced
- A few pinches of sage and oregano.
Directions:
Thouroughly rinse the calamari and look for any remaining pieces of the spine bone. Pat dry to remove all moisture. Combine ingredients 5 through 10 in a mixing bowl. Mix calamari in to with the marinade and let sit for 5 minutes.
In the meanitime, heat a small skillet with a little oil on medium-high. Add the chorizo and cook, breaking it up into pieces with a spatula or spoon until browned and juices form (approx. 8 minutes.) Transfer to a plate and set aside. Hint: spraying the spoon or spatula with non-stick cooking spray will prevent the sausage from sticking to the utesil.
Heat a 10-inch cast iron pan to high temperature with a little bit of oil. Add calamari mixture to the pan in a single layer. Cook on medium-high until most of the moisture has evaporated. Fold in the chorizo and serve hot.
