Ahhh, Calamari. Why have I not made thee before?

This was so easy, and so fabulous. Sautéed calamari is a frequently ordered item when Heather and I go out, but I’m kicking myself for not making it before. All in all, prep and cook time was 15 minutes or less. The recipe is below. As usual, I’m pretty vague with my portions (you just need to feel it). Make sure to do the cooking in portions, as the calamari must be cooked in a single layer. The sauté time is quick, so you need to make sure it gets cooked through. Enjoy!

2eat2drink-sauteed calamari-p

 

  • 1 pound cleaned calamari
  • 2-4 garlic cloves chopped
  • crushed red pepper flakes
  • olive oil
  • butter
  • 1/2 lemon
  • tri color grape tomatoes, halved
  • small bunch chopped oregano
  • small bunch chopped parsley
  • salt
  • fresh cracked black pepper
  1. Dry calamari with a paper towel and cut into 3/4″ rings. The tentacles can be left whole, unless very large.
  2. Heat oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat until smoking. Add butter (to taste), then only enough calamari to cover the pan surface. Add similar portions of garlic, tomatoes, oregano, and parsley to the pan, and season with salt, pepper, and pepper flakes. Cook, tossing frequently, until squid is opaque and cooked through, about 1 to 2 minutes. Make sure not to overcook. Repeat until all the calamari is cooked. Squeeze lemon over squid, toss and serve.

Where’s the Beef?

Father’s Day. What would it be without grilled meat? Well, I guess it would still be a Sunday to celebrate how great our fathers are. But, it might not be quite as manly without the grilled meat! (and a beer as you grill!) So Happy Father’s day…a day after. I hope you got to enjoy something like this Italian themed burger!

As I said in the caprese burger post, it’s fun to make a burger that’s way bigger than you can easily take a bite out of. So, we did it again here! 90% lean irradiated ground beef was once again our beef of choice. For this burger, I chopped up oregano and parsley and mixed it in the meat when I created the patties.  Grill it medium, and it’s incredibly juicy and flavorful. Place it on your grilled Italian hard roll and top the burger with fresh mozzarella, grilled pepper, grilled onion, more fresh oregano and parsley, mixed greens and your favorite tomato sauce.

Make sure to hold it over your plate and have a few spare napkins nearby!

The juicy, dripping, flavorful Italian themed burger.

I can just hear the sizzle and smell the smoke.

Olive Bread…Dipping

What a simple delight. Any crusty bread would work wonderfully for this tasting, but we love the olive bread from Wegmans. Even though fabulous on its own, creating an olive oil dip takes it to another level. Chopped fresh oregano is my favorite ingredient to add to a high-end extra virgin olive oil, along with chopped kalamata olives, chopped basil, crushed red pepper, grated parm, salt and pepper. Splendido!

Made for dipping!

Fresh oregano! (& friends)

Wegmans olive bread.

Add a nice red and you almost have dinner.