Stuffed Calamari with Purple Basil Sauce

Reyhan Soslu İçi Kalamar

 

This dish is like a taste of the Mediterranean, all wrapped up in one. Make sure you use fresh ingredients for the very best result…

 

Ingredients:

4 small calamari (kalamar), 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:

1 fillet    sea bass (levrek) or other white-fleshed fish

200g       shrimp/prawns, finely diced

4              cloves of garlic, crushed

6 sprigs tarragon or thyme (taze kekik), depending on what’s in season; chopped finely

10 sprigsflat-leaf parsley (maydanoz), chopped finely

4 tbsp    cream

2 tbsp    water

2 tsp      olive oil

½ tsp     salt

               freshly ground black pepper

 

for the sauce:

1 tsp      olive oil.

1 clove  garlic, crushed

200ml    tomato passata (domates püresi)

¼ tsp     salt

5 lrg       purple basil leaves, roughly chopped

 

1. Mix the marinade ingredients well in a bowl. When the mixture starts to froth, add the calamari and toss well in the marinade. Leave to soak as you prepare the rest of the dish.

 

2. Fry the fillets of fish lightly until cooked through. Flake away from the skin into small pieces and place in a bowl. Discard fish skin and any bones.

 

3. To the same pan, add the finely chopped raw prawns and garlic. Stir fry gently, breaking up the prawn pieces, until prawns are just done. Add garlic/prawn mixture to the bowl with the flaked fish.

 

4. Add the chopped herbs, cream, water, olive oil, salt and pepper to the fish/prawn mix, and stir until well combined.

 

5. For the sauce, head up the oil in a small saucepan, and add the garlic. Fry gently over medium heat until the garlic starts to colour, then add the tomato passata.  Bring to the boil, then remove from heat. Add the purple basil leaves and stir until wilted by the sauce’s residual heat.

 

6.  Wash the calamari and pat dry with paper towel. Spoon in the filling from the wide end of the calamari. Only fill each calamari ¾ full, otherwise the calamari will split while cooking. Secure the open end shut with a toothpick.

 

7. Heat up a large frypan or grill to medium-high heat.  Fry the calamari parcels until golden brown on each side and generally stiff.

 

8. Serve immediately, with a salad on the side.

 

SERVES: 2 as a main meal, 4 as an entrée.