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Stuffed squid

⏱ 70 min🍳 60 min👤 2 pp★★★★☆

Stuffed squid are a really healthy and nutritious main course: they allow you to enjoy squid, good for your health, combined with a tasty, rich and nutritious stuffing. The result is a main course that may be sufficiently satisfying to serve as a whole meal, depending on how you choose to fill your squid. The recipe that we propose here involves the use of fresh squid (if they are not available, you can substitute frozen ones) and a fresh, homemade filling using a few fragrant ingredients often found in your store cupboard: breadcrumbs, parsley, salt and garlic. As for cooking, you can either use the oven, in which case you could also roast some mixed vegetables and potatoes, or you can use the ‘lighter’ option of steaming. In this latter case, you could also cook some potatoes or other vegetables together with your squid.

Ingredients

Nutritional values 380 kcal / serving
Protein
35g
Carbohydrates
18g
Fat
16g
Fiber
2g

* approximate values per serving

Information
70 minutes Total time
60 minutes Active time
Serves 2 persons
★★★★☆ Hard

Preparation

Clean the squid and remove the tips of the tentacles - you will use these for the filling. Make the filling by chopping and mixing these tentacle tips with the chopped garlic, breadcrumbs, salt, pepper and parsley, olives, capers and pecorino cheese. Mix everything with the egg. Once the squid are filled with this smooth and soft mixture, place them on a frying pan with olive oil and wine and cook. Alternatively, you may bake them in the oven at 200 °C for about an hour, or steam them for about twenty minutes.

Tips
To clean the squid begin by separating the head from the body. The entrails are attached to the head, and will therefore also be removed automatically. Then remove the cartilage from inside the squid. Proceed by then removing the eyes and beak. Wash the squid under running water, then, again under running water, skin it. This same technique is fine for cleaning another type of cephalod, the ‘totano’. Bear in mind, however, that the ‘totano’ has the toughest squid meat, and that if you do decide to use it, choose the smallest ones you can find. If you don’t find either type of squid, you can also make this recipe with cuttlefish - it will be equally tasty.
Trivia
Squid have three hearts, all green. Two of them pump blood to the gills, while the third is responsible for circulation in the rest of the body. The squid, as well as cuttlefish and octopus, are defined as cephalopods, from the Greek ‘kephale’ and ‘pous’, meaning head and foot. The name comes from the fact that these animals have head and feet that are almost connected to each other.

Step by step

Ingredients
Ingredients
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Additional information

Stuffed Squid in Stew: Great in Winter with Bread

The stuffed squid in stew is a very appreciated dish, especially during the winter season, when one is always happy to mop up with bread and enjoy a warmer, brothier dish than usual. The advice we give you is not to overdo the cooking times. Usually, stewing gives its best results with long cooking times, but this rule especially applies to meat. While the more meat is cooked, the more it falls apart, the more fish is cooked, the tougher it becomes. Therefore, 15 minutes for small squid is sufficient, a maximum of 30 minutes if they are large, even if they are stuffed squid in stew. How to make stuffed squid in sauce is quite simple, thus, the important thing is to have control over the cooking, to season both the filling and the sauce well with salt, and to always cook everything with the lid. This way, the dish will be even more tender. If you are wondering how to make soft stuffed squid, we reveal the 3 secrets of grandma:

  • The first, as mentioned, is to always use the lid
  • The second is to prefer stewing
  • The third is to always use the cooking water of the tentacles in the filling
How to Cook Stuffed SquidRegarding the cooking of the various types of stuffed squid that you find below, you can choose to cook the stuffed squid in a pan. To do this, heat a drizzle of olive oil in a pan, briefly place the squid in it, and sauté them for a few minutes until lightly golden. Then deglaze with white wine and add cherry tomatoes, peeled tomatoes, tomato purée, potatoes, whatever you desire. Cook for a maximum of 30 minutes. To know if the squid is cooked, pierce it with a fork. The fork should easily enter the squid. Another way is to cook the stuffed squid in the oven. The oven is always a convenient ally. To cook the stuffed squid in the oven, cover them with a sheet of aluminum foil and make a few holes in it. This way, 25 minutes at 180 degrees will be sufficient.

How to Make Stuffed Squid Without Egg?

If you are wondering how to make stuffed squid without egg, we immediately respond with suggestions for recipes that do not involve the use of egg, but rather many tasty and light flavors: try with us the recipes for squid in stew, Amalfi-style (stuffed squid by Cannavacciuolo), Neapolitan, Sicilian. Read the following paragraphs to delve deeper and discover new variations of soft and flavorful stuffed squid, each time different.

Sicilian Stuffed Squid: Raisins and Pine Nuts as ProtagonistsSicilian stuffed squid is a very appreciated seafood main dish that encapsulates the quintessence of Sicilian flavors: raisins, pine nuts, caciotta, peeled tomatoes diced and drained of their water, and a little garlic. For the sauté, onion is used instead. This is an easy and quick recipe for stuffed squid that does not rely on laboriousness but on the surprise effect of the intense flavors of Sicily!

Neapolitan Stuffed Squid: Mediterranean Flavors

Stuffed squid are not all the same. Neapolitan stuffed squid are among the most appreciated in the landscape of variations for this recipe. They are also called inbuttunat, meaning buttoned, because they are usually stuffed and closed with a toothpick. The typical Mediterranean flavors, such as oregano, Gaeta olives, capers, and garlic, give that Neapolitan touch to the recipe. For the Neapolitan stuffed squid recipe, breadcrumbs is used instead of bread.

Amalfi-Style Stuffed Squid: Lemon is a Must

Amalfi-style stuffed squid are also truly delicious but perhaps less simple than the Neapolitan ones. They contain, in addition to the tentacles, which are always present in all recipes, also mashed boiled potatoes, zucchini, black olives, lemon zest (which always makes a difference), parmesan, fresh parsley, salt, and pepper. A truly exciting recipe that may seem a bit laborious, but will surely be a success. After stuffing the squid, you will sauté them, deglaze with white wine, add a generous handful of cherry tomatoes, and bring to cooking.