Food of the Adriatic - Calamari

Stuffed Calamari

Serves 4

The calamari are cooked in a peca or Croatian oven (also known as a Dutch or damper or camp oven), but a conventional oven can also be used.

Ingredients

1 kg calamari (fresh baby squid)
olive oil, for cooking
2 onions, very finely chopped
½ bunch continental parsley, coarsely chopped
few cloves garlic, finely chopped
salt, preferably natural sea salt
ground pepper
1 ½ cups rice
2-3 teaspoons of the Croatian ‘secret spices’ – cumin, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, Chinese Five Spice (that is, approximately ½ teaspoon of each spice)
good handful of pine nuts, unroasted
7-8 pieces dry or fresh sweet figs
additional olive oil

Method

Cut the heads and tails off the squid. Set aside the tubes and finely chop the heads and tails.

Heat the oil in a frypan and add the chopped heads and tails, then the onion, parsley and garlic, stirring constantly.

Season with salt and pepper.

Add uncooked rice, again stirring constantly.

Add the spices and, finally, the pine nuts.

Cook for 10 minutes, still stirring.

When cooked, ladle stuffing into the calamari tubes and secure the ends with toothpicks.

Slice the figs into quarters and arrange with stuffed calamari pockets in a baking dish. Pour olive oil over the top.

Put dish in the bottom of the Croatian oven and put the lid on. (Tip – Using this kind of oven means no liquid is needed for cooking.) However, a conventional oven preheated to 200° C can be used (in this case, use 2 glasses of wine)

Cook for one hour.

CROATIAN CUISINE

The people of the Mediterranean have used olive oil since time im-memorial. Nowadays, the benefits of this diet are fully recognized, leading to the rediscovery of olive oil as a natural healthy product that has an important role to play in a balanced diet. Virgin Olive Oil is the only vegetable fat that can be consumed in its natural state. The extraction process retains all its properties, making this liquid gold into a healthy food that helps to keep the organism balanced.Olive oil has been used for thousands of years, particularly by the people of the Mediterranean who understood its nutritional value and benefits for health very early on. The advantages of olive oil have today been scientifically identified and explained.Olive oil is a healthy fat because it consists of mono-unsaturated fatty acids, Vitamin E and pro-Vitamin A, essential nutrients for a balanced diet.The mono-unsaturated fatty acids also help protect the heart and the skin. These are only some of the many reasons why nutritionists and other medical specialists recommend olive oil in all diets, as a basic product that isessential for healthy eating.It is not surprising, therefore, that the consumption of olive oil has increased considerably in recent years, particularly the best quality segments such as Extra Virgin. Croatia is recognized as having some of the worlds very best olive oil. Quantity is small but quality is unequaled in many quarters minds. We think so too.

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