We enjoyed a lot of seafood in Spain. But this recipe did not come from our time there, it graced our cocktail table soon after we moved back into our newly renovated bedroom. We were watching a little Jamie Oliver before turning out the lights and the recipe that night was this gem: Crispy Squid and Smashed Avocado. It was a hit the first time I made it, and soon after, I was getting requests to make it again. It is a deep-fried recipe, and you all know how much I love deep-frying, but it is quickly fried and on my first measure of the oil used, I was able to get most of it back after it cooled which means the calamari did not absorb much. Cutting the calamari length-wise instead of in rounds will allow the calamari to curl up like a spring which looks super cool. I paired this tapa with Romesco Sauce and Avocado Cream, and they were both awesome!
Calamares Fritos
To see the original recipe, please click here.
Serves 1-2 people
Ingredients:
- 1 calamari tube, cleaned and sliced lengthwise to open up
- 65 g all-purpose flour
- pinch of sea salt
- 1 L vegetable oil
Ingredients for the Avocado Cream:
- 1 Avocado
- pinch of cumin
- pinch of sea salt
- 1 lime, juiced
Ingredients for Serving:
- Romesco Sauce
- 1/4 Lemon cut into wedges
Directions:
- Cut the calamari into strips lengthwise (not rings). Add the flour and sea salt to a bowl and toss the calamari strips until well coated.
- Heat the vegetable oil to 375° F. Fry the calamari strips 5 at a time until golden. Drain excess oil on kitchen paper.
- Meanwhile, mash or cream the avocado with cumin, sea salt and lime juice.
- Serve calamari hot with the sauces.
Notes:
- Cut the calamari into thin strips length-wise so that it will curl into a spring shape as it fries. Shorter ones will curl less.
- This dish is equally as good with either sauce so if you don’t want two sauces, just go with one.
- To scale up the dish, just add another calamari tube for each additional person. More than 4 people, double the avocado cream recipe.
[…] Crispy Calamari with Romesco Sauce […]
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What great party food!
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Ooh, how delicious! This is one dish I’ve never attempted to make! Nothing but time these days, right?
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Both sauces sound like they would go so well with the calamari.
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Oh, this is fabulous! I mostly love the two dips you prepared. I love calamari, but can’t get it where I live…. which is really unfortunate. Happy Easter!
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You know what I’ve had curled calamari before and wondered how it got that way. Nice tip! The rest of the recipe looks super simple. GREG
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It really is, and it’s tasty! Thank you so much for dropping by, I really appreciate it.
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