Izmir-Style Stuffed Calamari

Egeli Kalamar Dolması

 

Most “dolma” recipes – foods that are stuffed with filling – are fairly standardised across Turkey. Stuffed sundried eggplant, for example, are made pretty much the same way all over the country. But this is not the case with stuffed calamari.

 

Stuffed calamari recipes tend to draw on the ingredients unique to the region they are made in. This particular recipe from the Ege region of Turkey features Izmir Tulum cheese, the region’s most famous culinary export. Izmir Tulum is a medium-hard white cheese, matured in goatskins, featuring characteristic tiny white bubbles throughout. If you can’t get your hands on Izmir Tulum, substitute with a non-salty white cheese such as ricotta.

 

Ingredients:

4 small    calamari, cleaned with head, skin and innards removed

 

for the marinade:

1              lemon, juiced

1 tbsp     sugar

½ tsp      bi carb soda (karbonat)

 

for the filling:

100g       Az Tuzlu Izmir Tulum cheese, or other non-salty white cheese;

                finely grated or crumbled

15           sprigs of parsley, leaves picked and chopped

1/3 cup  coarse dry bread crumbs

2              cloves garlic, crushed

4 tbsp     olive oil

 

1. Combine the marinade ingredients in a bowl and stir. When the mixture foams, add the calamari and toss until well-coated. Leave to soak while you prepare your other ingredients.

 

2. Prepare the filling ingredients and mix together in a bowl.

 

3. Wash the marinaded calamari and pat dry with a paper towel. Spoon the stuffing into each calamari tube from the larger open end until it is 3/4 full. Do not fill it completely , or it will split during cooking. Close the open end of the calamari using a toothpick.

 

4. Heat up a frypan to medium high heat, and lightly grease it with olive oil. Place the calamari tubes in the pan, and fry a minute or two on each side until golden brown and stiff.

 

5. Transfer to a plate and serve immediately. Serve with a rocket salad.

 

 

SERVES: 2 as an entree, 4 as a main