Fried Calamari with Quick Marinara

5 from 1 vote

Fried Calamari with Quick Marinara

Crispy and crunchy Fried Calamari with warm marinara sauce is the ultimate delicious appetizer. This quick and easy appetizer can be made in the matter of minutes.

Prep Time10

Cook Time10

Total Time20

Course: Appetizer

Cuisine: American, Italian, Italian American

Diet: Low Calorie

Servings:

Author: Adrianna Adarme

Cost: $12

Equipment

1 medium pot

Ingredients

Sauce:

1 teaspoon olive oil
1 shallot diced
2 garlic cloves minced
1 (14-ounce) can San Marzano crushed tomatoes
1 small carrot grated
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Calamari:

2 large eggs
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup corn meal
2 teaspoons Italian seasonings
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 pound calamari and tentacles cleaned and cut into 1-inch tubes
Vegetable oil
3-4 sprigs of Italian parsley
1 lemon halved and charred

Instructions

To Make the Easy Marinara Sauce:

To a medium saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the shallot and minced garlic; cook until softened, 2 to 3 minutes. Pour in the crushed tomatoes, grated carrot and Italian seasoning.
Bring the tomato sauce for to a simmer and then immediately bring the heat down to medium low. Simmer, allowing the sauce to reduce, for 5 to 7 minutes. Mix in the salt and adjust seasonings to your liking. Cover the pot, so the sauce doesn't reduce anymore, and bring the heat down to very low.

To Fry the Calamari:

In a medium bowl, beat together the two eggs. In a large bowl, toss together the all-purpose flour, corn meal, Italian seasoning, salt and crushed red pepper.
In a medium pot, pour in 3 inches of oil. Heat the oil to 325 degrees F. Working in batches, transfer the calamari and tentacles into the bowl with the beaten eggs.
Transfer the calamari, a few handfuls at a time, into the flour mixture, being sure the calamari is thoroughly coated. Using a fork (I found this to be the best tool), drop the flour-dusted calamari into the hot oil, cooking for 1 to 2 minutes, until light brown.
Transfer to a bed of a paper towels to drain. Place the fried calamari into a warm (200 degree F) oven while you fry up the rest of the calamari. Repeat the dredging, frying steps until you've worked your way through all of the calamari. For garnish, add a few sprigs of Italian parsley to the hot oil, cooking for about 1 minute.
Transfer the calamari and fried Italian parsley plate and serve with warm marinara sauce. Garnish with the charred lemon.

Notes

Tips and Tricks:

Be sure not to overcook it. The one trick to good tasting calamari is to not over cook it. It overcooks quickly, so below you'll see 1 to 2 minutes. Be sure to stick to that.

Char the lemons. Good gracious. It makes it a million times better and it's as simple as placing lemons on the grates of your gas range.

How to buy calamari. I bought mine from the fish department at my local grocery store. I asked them to clean it and prepare it for fried calamari and they happily obliged. All I had to do at home was cut the tubes into 1-inch pieces.

Nutrition