If you read my post about the Top Fish competition, then you know that I recently made a stuffed squid dish that landed me in third place. I am pretty proud of that recipe, and I’d like to share it with you.
I have served this dish to many friends, and they all enjoyed it. What is difficult about cooking squid is that you either need to cook it quickly or over a very long period of time, making sure that it doesn’t get rubbery. The way I prepare it is to bake it quickly, and it doesn’t take ages to chew—win win.
The prep for this dish takes about 10 to 15 minutes depending on your knife skills; I usually like a chunky chop, but with the squids being so little, you are going to want to chop everything pretty small.
Ingredients
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion—red or white, depending on your taste—finely chopped
• 1 1/2 cups brown short grain rice (you can always use white if you prefer)
• 1 tomato, diced
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 3 tablespoons feta
• 1/2 cup chopped black olives
• 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1 1/2 pounds baby squid, cleaned
• 1/2 cup tomato sauce
I know, I know, where’s the garlic?!?! I have an allergy, but from looking around online, they suggest 2 cloves finely chopped.
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
When it comes to the rice, I have made it two ways. Depending on how involved I’d like to be, I either use the rice cooker or make it on my stove top; for this recipe, I will tell you about stove top, because rice cookers are pretty easy to figure out, and rice tastes a lot better this way.
Heat 3 tablespoons of the oil in a medium pan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook until soft, then add the chopped tomatoes and olives to the pan. Add the rice and stir to coat with the mixture; cook for 1 minute. Add 3 cups water, season with salt and pepper, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover the pot, and cook until the rice is tender and the water is completely absorbed, about 14 to 16 minutes. Remove from the heat and let sit 5 minutes, and then stir in the parsley and the feta.
Stuff the squid with the rice mixture. Put a layer of tomato sauce on the bottom of a baking dish. Add the squid and drizzle with a little oil and season with salt and pepper. Bake until the squid is tender, about 25 to 30 minutes. Serve immediately with a drizzle of tomato sauce on top and some more feta.
I serve this by itself. If it was a starter, I’d do just one squid per person, but for an entree I do two or three. With a small salad, it is a perfect meal. It looks pretty fancy, but all in all, it is pretty simple to get right. For those of you who are not very excited about eating squid, you should give the rice a shot anyway, it’s delicious. Enjoy!