Oven Baked Squid (Calamari al Forno)
Recipe by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich from Lidia's Italy
Serves 4
Ingredients
- 8 Squids 6 ounces each, about 3 pounds total
- 4 Cloves Garlic peeled and sliced
- 4 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 4 tablespoons fish stock
- ¼ cup Chopped Flat-leaf parsley
Method
- Preheat the oven to 375F. Clean and rinse the squid without removing the skin (see footnote). Arrange the squid in a shallow cast-iron pan. Blend the garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper, mix well and coat the squid.
- Cover with aluminum foil and bake 20 minutes. Remove from the oven, discard the foil and turn the squid. Add the fish stock and bake, uncovered, 10-15 minutes, until squid is tender, turning it ocassionally.
- Test with a fork or skewer, which will slide out easily when the squid are done.
- Transfer the pan to the stove top and cook over high heat unitl the sauce becomes syrupy.
- Transfer the squid to a serving platter. Strain the sauce, add the parsley, and spoon over the squid.
Notes & Tips
To clean squid, grasp the body sac in one hand and draw the head out with the other. Detach the tentacles by cutting laterally just below the eyes, discarding the base of the head and any attached innards. With your fingers draw the transparent "backbone" and any loose remaining innards from the body sac. Snip off the point at the rear end of the sac and flush running water through the sac. For this recipe, bake the detached heads together with the sacs and reposition them in the sac openings before serving
