Calamari with stewed tomatoes

I like to improvise when I cook. There are times I just start cooking without really knowing what I’m going to make. I usually end up with something really tasty. Oh, I’ve had a stinker, now and then, but most are good. The hard part is remembering what I did when I write my recipe down. 

This calamari stew was an example of improvising. I wasn’t real sure what the end product would be until I was about halfway done cooking it. It turned out to be one of the good ones.

I’m not sure if this qualifies as an Italian dish, a Greek dish, a Spanish dish or possibly a Cajun dish. I guess it has elements of all four. Maybe we can call it a Mediterranean dish with a funny accent. Don’t sit there and try to classify this for too long, or someone may gobble it up before you get any.

Olive oil

2 tbs. butter

4 cloves of garlic, minced fine 

1 cup chopped bell pepper

1 cup chopped celery

1 cup chopped onion

1 large shallot, minced fine 

Red pepper flakes

1/2 tsp. ground chipotle

1/2 tsp. smoked paprika

1 tsp. white pepper

1/2 tsp. thyme

1/2 tsp. oregano

1 cup white wine

1 can plum tomatoes

1 lb. frozen calamari

Tabasco

Cajun seasoning

Preparation

Heat a large braising pan and add enough olive oil to coat the bottom. Melt the butter and then add the garlic, bell pepper, celery, onion and shallots along with a good sprinkle of red pepper flakes. Cover and let that gently cook for about ten minutes until the vegetables have softened.

Stir in the chipotle, smoked paprika, white pepper, thyme and oregano. Stir that for about a minute and then add the white wine. Bring that to a boil and let that reduce by about half. Add the can of tomatoes and using a knife and fork break them up. 

Cover and let that simmer gently for another ten minutes. Add the calamari along with several dashes of Tabasco and a sprinkle of cajun seasoning. Stir and return it to a simmer and let that go for about five minutes and turn the heat off.

Serving

You could serve this over pasta if you want, but here’s the way I like to serve it. Place a large pile of rice in a bowl and drown the rice in the stewed calamari. Drizzle a little extra virgin olive oil over the stew. 

What else should you have? Well, fresh crusty homemade bread is a no brainer. I would also like a big salad with a red wine vinaigrette. For the wine, you’d want a light bodied Italian red, or possibly a chilled Prosecco. You might need a second helping of calamari too. Just saying. For dessert, I’d like bread pudding with a whiskey and brown sugar butter sauce.