Day 24 - April 6, 2016 - Calamari Kokkinisto (Calamari with Red Sauce) - Καλαμάρι Κοκκινιστό - (Originally posted on March 26, 2014)

(The delicious recipe below is one of our favourite dishes during Lent; it was originally posted on March 26, 2014)

Tonight's dish, our calamari kokkinisto (Calamari with red sauce),
on top of one of favourite pasta varieties - Scooby Doo!

Some people really love kokkinisto!  In fact, in our house, it is a topic of conversation regularly.  We talk about the many foods that we can make kokkinisto - the famous Greek red sauce, including vegetables, seafood and even meats.  We are trying to find the best kokkinisto out there.  We have tried various cookbooks, family recipes, friends' suggestions-- and we like many of them.  But, we are in search of the best.  Today, we are adding to our research by trying another recipe, this one from an online source at FoodReference.com.  The recipe was for Octopus (Octapodi Kokkinisto), but we had kalamari (squid) and thought that was close enough.  It's funny how the two are very different animals, but cook in a similar way.  You can use various cooking  methods to get squid or octopus to turn into a delicious, velvety seafood dish.

When buying squid, there are a few things you want to look for.  First, try to get the squid cleaned.  It really is so much easier for you.  And, unless you are making a squid ink pasta or squid ink sauce, then why suffer the smells from your garbage can when the fish monger can clean the squid and dispose of the icky parts for you?  Also, look for fresh looking squid.  The fresh ones will have clear eyes and moist flesh.  The smaller squid are going to cook faster.  Some may say that the smaller ones are more tender, but we believe that the tenderness generally has to do with the cooking method.  This time, we bought just the tentacles.  If you can buy fresh seafood, that's great.  If not, then buy the frozen stuff-- it is really just as good in the end!  If you cannot find squid, octopus, cuttlefish, even conch are good substitutes.

For this recipe, you will need the following:

4 large calamari tentacles (squid)

12 ounce (355 ml) can whole tomatoes (we used canned San Marzano plum tomatoes)

1/4 cup olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

2 bay leaves

1 1/2 cups white wine

1 Tablespoon basil

First, wash the calamari well, removing any residues.  If the squid was not cleaned for you, then make sure to remove all the cartilage and the ink sack.  We cut out the beak and any remaining cartilage that was attached at the top of the tentacles.  You will be able to feel these pieces -- they are like plastic.  Use kitchen shears to work your way around the cartilage.  Rinse the calamari very well and feel carefully to make sure you removed all the cartilage bits.  Then, put the calamari in a dry pot.

There is no oil or water in the pot, just calamari.  This is to allow the squid to stew in its own juices for a moment.  We want those juices to flow out of the calamari so we can add flavour to our sauce.  Allow the calamari to cook for a few minutes until it is bright pink in colour and the juices are collecting in the pot.  You will even see that the ends of the tentacles start to curl.

Next, take the calamari out of the pot and set it aside.  Also, set aside the liquid.  We want to return to having a dry pot to make the sauce.  It is fine if the squid and the liquid are aside together, we want them both to cool a bit.  

Now, prepare your onion and garlic.  Both should be chopped.  We are going to start the sauce with the first step of sautéing the onion in the oil.  Add the garlic and allow this to cook for three minutes.  You should smell the onion and see it turn translucent.

Add the bay leaves.  We put the bay leaves in now so they have a chance to heat and infuse the oil into the onions and garlic.  The bay leaves actually cook a little, too, and will add more flavour.  Allow the bay leaves to simmer for two minutes.  Then, add the basil.  The aromas in the kitchen will be powerful, but lovely.  

At this point, add the liquid from the canned tomatoes.  Add the liquid first because this gives you a minute of simmering the sauce to reduce it a bit before adding the solid tomatoes.  We removed the whole tomatoes from the can, put them on a plate, and chopped them with our kitchen scissors.  This was an easy, clean way to chop the tomatoes.  You could use canned chopped tomatoes, but if you cut the whole ones yourself, you can control how big the chunks of tomato are.  Many of them will cook down to paste, but some will remain in chunks.   Once they are all cut up, put the tomato pieces into the sauce and allow this to simmer for about 20 minutes.  And, add the wine to the pot.

While the sauce is cooking, this is the time to continue preparing the calamari.  We have it sitting aside in its juice, but now, we have to prepare the calamari into the size of pieces we want to eat.  So, pour the liquid from the cooked calamari into the pot so it has a chance to simmer while we cut the calamari tentacles.  We first cut the calamari's tentacles where they are connected, separating all the tentacles from each other. Then, since many of these were quite long, we cut the tentacles into small pieces of various sizes.  Afterwards, we put the pieces of cut, semi-cooked calamari into the sauce.

Allow the sauce with the calamari to simmer with a lid on the pot for the next thirty minutes or so, until the calamari is tender. As the whole dish is cooking, you'll notice that the sauce becomes increasingly thicker and the flavours more concentrated.

While the kokkinisto is stewing, get ready the rice or pasta or bread that you will be serving with this rich and delightful dish!  Then, enjoy!

"Fasts and vigils, the study of Scripture, renouncing possessions and everything worldly are not in themselves perfection, as we have said; they are its tools. For perfection is not to be found in them; it is acquired through them. It is useless, therefore, to boast of our fasting, vigils, poverty, and reading of Scripture when we have not achieved the love of God and our fellow men. Whoever has achieved love has God within himself and his intellect is always with God."

St. John Cassian

Source of quote: http://theodorakis.net/orthodoxquotescomplete.html