what do you stuff it with? drop a recipe in the food thread and I will try to make it for sure.
You start with Marinara sauce which is pretty simple to make from scratch. You have to make a lot of sauce, so I tend to take half the sauce once the calamari is done, and freeze it. Then I use the frozen sauce at a later date with calamari rings or just over pasta. Anyhow.... I don't have a written recipe I work with, but this is about as close I can estimate.
Ingredients for sauce.
* 4/5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
* 6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
* 1 (16 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
* 2 ( 6 ounce) can tomato paste
* 1/2 cup red wine
* 3/4 cup water
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon crushed black pepper
* 1 tablespoon dry crushed oregano
* 1 teaspoon dry crushed basil
* 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
Get a big ol boiling pot with lid, and put in on medium heat. Let the pot warm up before putting in the olive oil. Basically you need a bit more oil then it takes to coat the bottom of the pot to fry your herbs and garlic. Start with the basil, oregano, and red pepper. Two or three minutes into frying the herbs, add your garlic.If you need to add a little more oil at that point, no big deal, as long as the bottom of the pot isn't too dried up.
It should take about two minutes.. give or take... to cook the garlic. Don't burn it, ever so slightly brown/ gold it's done. I actually do it like in the movie "Good Fellas" with a razor knife to get paper thin slices, so it cooks very quickly. It takes a bit more time to cut it up that way, but it really does just about melt into the oil. Once the garlic is slightly browned, take it off the heat and let it cool.
Once the pot is cooled down, add your crushed tomato, water, tomato paste, wine, salt and black pepper. Turn it up to medium / high heat, and stir in the tomato paste, as it doesn't just blend in. Bring it to a slow boil for about 4 minutes, the drop the heat, and let it simmer covered for at least 30 minutes, string it once or twice.
Now comes the fun part
You should be able to find calamari that is cleaned but not cut up. Small (4 or 5 inches) are best, and will cook quicker. The tubes need to hold water when rinsed. If they don't, they'll leak stuffing and make the marinara a bit creamy. I can't say how much ricotta cheese to get, because it depends on how much calamari you're going to stuff. Mix up the ricotta with seasoned bread crumbs. Two thirds cheese to one third bread crumbs. You can also stuff with just the ricotta seasoned with a little salt and black pepper. Another variation is adding a little crab meat into the cheese and bread crumb mixture. I use a pastry bag these days, but use to use a baby spoon or plastic spoon to stuff the tubes. Don't over stuff the tubes, as they tend to split open. Fill them to a little below the opening. There are many ways to close them from what I hear. I use the tried and true method... a sewing needle and white cotton thread. Sew the open end up well. I always get some of the tenticals, and extra tubes that get cut into rings.
By this time, your sauce is more then simmered long enough LOL
Bring the sauce back to a rolling boil, and put the stuffed calamari in the pot. Cover it, and let it boil for about 2 minutes, then bring it back down to a simmer. Let it simmer for at least two hours, carefully string it every so often.
Serve it over spaghetti.
Of course, it might be easier to just fly down here, and let me cook it. It's a very time consuming dish, that why I don't make it often. I buy fresh calamari and clean it myself most of the time. It's a chore in itself.
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