La Lama Mountain Ovens
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Family Secrets

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The best of the recipes, techniques, and methods practiced by our large extended Italian-American family - with emphasis on the legacy handed down to us by the original immigrants.

This is a cookbook-in-process project. If you try any of these recipes please let us know how they turn out, whether or not you had any difficulties, and any clarifying improvements you might recommend to make them foolproof. We will of course acknowledge genuine "test-kitchen" assistance.

Family Secrets #50

Calamari Ripiene in the Sardinian Style
(Spicy Stuffed Squid)

By CeCe Dove, La Lama Mountain Ovens

Fish of all sorts play a key role on the holiday menus of many cuisines. Traditional Christmas Eve festivities in a large Italian household used to feature a buffet of seven kinds of fish cooked in a number of different ways. While it would be interesting to replicate the traditional menu of seven fish, for most of us with our smaller families this would be an overwhelming task and a pure example of overkill. Even in the extended family we grew up with, the cooks limited themselves to two or three varieties.

Several of our family's traditional recipes appear in our Family Secrets #22, and the following recipe would make a splendid addition or substitution at this or any time of year. We consider this one of our additions to the living legacy of fine family food.

In the winter these can be cooked on the stove top in a grill pan (a heavy cast iron fry pan with ridges on the bottom). In the summer they are simply delicious done on the grill. This recipe is a wonderful addition to a buffet table since you can prep the whole thing hours in advance, and the final cooking only takes about 12 minutes. It also adopts well as a first course (serve 2 per person) for a formal meal. I personally love it as an entree, just adding a crisp green salad, crusty Italian bread, and a glass of white wine. You'll still have room for dessert.

For those of you who are fortunate enough to have access to fresh whole-body squid, please do use them. Sometimes you can buy them already cleaned, but if not, it is worth the effort to clean them yourself. Be sure to peel off all the speckled skin so you end up with a perfectly white whole squid body. If using frozen, they often come without the tentacles, so you will have to eliminate them from the stuffing. They make a nice textural addition to the filling but it will be fine without.

Calamari Ripiene in the Sardinian Style

For six medium squid. May be doubled or tripled.

• 3 slices stale homestyle bread torn or cut into very small pieces after discarding tough crusts.
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 Tblsp. olive oil
• 1/4 cup scallions, finely chopped
• 1 fresh jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely diced
• 8 pitted marinated green olives, chopped
• 2 tsp. drained and rinsed capers
• Squid tentacles if you have them, blanched one minute, cooled, and finely chopped
• 1/2 Tblsp. finely chopped fresh oregano
• 1/2 Tblsp. finely chopped fresh mint
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• Freshly ground pepper to taste.
• 6 medium squid (about 4 inches body length)
• 1 1/2 cups marinara (optional, see below)

Step One: Prepare the Stuffing

Soak bread in milk for 15 minutes. Sauté scallions and jalapeno in the olive oil over low heat until soft, about 10-12 minutes. Cool slightly. Squeeze bread and discard milk. Mix bread with scallions/peppers tossing with two forks. Add all other ingredients, tossing and mixing well. Adjust for salt if necessary, this will depend on your olives.

Step Two: Stuffing the Squid

Even if you have purchased your squid already cleaned, rinse them in cold water again, making sure all the innards are out, the quill is gone, and all skin removed. Pat dry. With a small spoon (a sugar spoon works well) and your immaculately clean fingers, stuff the bodies with the filling. Pack it gently, remembering that the stuffing will swell when you cook it. When all the squid are filled, rub them very lightly with olive oil and refrigerate until ready to cook.

Step Three: Cooking

If using a stove top pan, brush lightly with olive oil and place over a medium high heat until pan is hot. Grill the squid about 12 minutes, turning gently with tongs several times, until they are opaque and the stuffing begins to swell. Serve on a pool of fresh marinara spiked with cilantro or fresh basil if you wish. May also be served unsauced over a bed of fresh greens tossed with a vinaigrette.

Altitude Adjustment: None.