Food delights – Grilled marinated calamari

Istria offers a variety of excellent seafood, has its own style of cuisine and is a tasty gastronomic journey.

Grilled marinated calamari is definitely the food you have to try.

Here’s a receipt for my No.1 dish – Grilled marinated calamari a la Chef Biba (my mother) is a delight!

Ingredients:

• 1 kg whole cleaned fresh calamari (tubes and tentacles) *
• 4 minced garlic cloves
• 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
• 2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• fresh lemon juice (2 lemons)
• 2 rosemary branches
• 1/2 cup white wine
• salt, pepper
• lemon wedges for serving

* if you are using frozen calamari: thaw frozen calamari, drain, then sprinkle calamari with 2 tbsp of baking soda and chill for 45 minutes, rinse, then soak in apple vinegar for 15 minutes to make them tender, rinse, dry.

How to make it:

1.  Start by rinsing the calamari and pat dry with a paper towel
2.  Marinate calamari
3.  Preheat a grill pan on high heat
4.  Grill calamari turning on both sides (3-4 minutes each side), drizzle with marinade sauce
5.  Transfer to a plate, sprinkle with a lemon juice and serve with tartar sauce and cooked potatoes with mangold vegetable.

Making of marinade and tartar sauce is very easy.

Marinade:

Place the calamari in a bowl and add 1/2 cup of olive oil, 2 tbsp of lemon juice, white wine, garlic, parsley, chopped rosemary, 1/2 tbsp salt, and pepper. Stir and chill for min. 1 hour (best will be 5 hours).

Tartar sauce:

• 100 grams mayonnaise
• 150 ml of sour cream
• 100 grams of small-diced pickles
• 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
• minced onion, garlic, parsley, salt, and pepper
• Mix together ingredients and serve

Potatoes with mangold (mangelwurzel, mangel beet) – recipe:

• 3-4 medium peeled potatoes cut into cubes
• 0,5 kg mangold into strips
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 tbsp chopped parsley
• salt, pepper

Cook potatoes in salted water and after 10 minutes add mangold and cook for another 10 minutes. When cooked, drain. Heat olive oil for a minute in a pan and add the cooked potatoes and mangold. Season with salt, pepper, and parsley to blend the flavors.

And a delicious light meal is ready. Enjoy your meal with a glass of good white wine!

Tagged: Tags calamari food istria