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Squid in Black Ink Sauce

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  • Prep 20 min
  • Total 1 hr 15 min
  • Ingredients 11
  • Servings 4
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Let me just begin by saying that “Calamares en Su Tinta”, or Squid in its Own Ink, is one of my all-time favorite meals. It is juicy and savory, and has a wonderful, seafood taste. Nevertheless, I realize that if you have not grown up eating squid, especially in its own black ink, it can be a little intimidating. Trust me when I say, this is a very simple dish to make, with just a few ingredients. But, the way the flavors combine with the squid makes it incredibly delicious, and a real showstopper. Try it at home once, and you’ll love it. Then make it for your best, open minded and foodie friends. You will absolutely amaze them! And if you don’t want to clean the squid yourself, buy the best clean squid you can, and visit your local gourmet store to buy jarred squid ink. Nowadays you can buy it ready to use, and it will save you a lot of time.
by Qué Rica Vida Comunidad
Updated Sep 24, 2015
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Ingredients

  • 3 large squid, whole, not cleaned
  • 1/2 tablespoon fresh parsley
  • 1 large clove of garlic
  • 1/2 teaspoon of salt
  • 1/2 medium onion, chopped
  • 2 tablespoons of olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon of crushed fresh tomato (or Spanish style tomato sauce)
  • 1/4 teaspoon of paprika
  • 1/4 cup of water
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 cup uncooked rice

Directions

  •  
    1
    Begin by cleaning the squid. Pulling the head and tentacles out, look for the ink sacks. Be careful not to puncture them. Pull each sack out and place them in a separate small bowl. Then continue cleaning the squid, pulling off the skin, separating the tentacles from the head (keep the tentacles, throw out the head), pulling out the cartilage and ultimately chopping the body into squares.
  •  
    2
    Mash the parsley, garlic and salt together in a mortar and set it aside.
  •  
    3
    Sauté the onion and the squid in olive oil in a medium sized sauce pan over a medium heat. You will begin to see that the squid and the onion will release water while cooking. When onion is translucent; add the tomato sauce, and combine it well. Once it is mixed, add the paprika and stir. Then add the garlic, salt and parsley the ones you mashed in mortar. Mix everything and lower the heat.
  •  
    4
    Take a fine strainer and place the three ink sacks into it. Hold the strainer over your pot and crush the ink sacks with a spoon so that the ink drips into the pot. Make sure the sacks do not go in the pot. Pour some water over the ink sacks through the strainer to get as much ink as possible out of them. If there is any ink left in the bowl where you kept the sacks, pour the rest of the water in bowl, swirl it around, and pour it into the pot, too.
  •  
    5
    Bring the pot back to a boil, add the bay leaf, lower the flame to a simmer, and let it cook 40 to 45 minutes until the squid is soft. Taste it occasionally; add salt to taste.
  •  
    6
    While the squid cooks, cook the white rice as per the instructions.
  •  
    7
    When the squid is done, let it sit 10 minutes. Remove the bay leaf before serving it.

Expert Tips

  • tip 1
    If you don´t want to go through the hassle of cleaning the squid and looking for the ink sacks, you can buy squid ink at a gourmet shop, and purchase cleaned squid. It will cut down your prep and cooking time to under an hour.
  • tip 2
    If your sauce is too watery, you can add a little flour as needed to thicken sauce.

Nutrition Information

No nutrition information available for this recipe

More About This Recipe

  • Let me just begin by saying that “Calamares en Su Tinta”, or Squid in its Own Ink, is one of my all-time favorite meals. It is juicy and savory, and has a wonderful, seafood taste. Nevertheless, I realize that if you have not grown up eating squid, especially in its own black ink, it can be a little intimidating. Trust me when I say, this is a very simple dish to make, with just a few ingredients. But, the way the flavors combine with the squid makes it incredibly delicious, and a real showstopper. Try it at home once, and you’ll love it. Then make it for your best, open minded and foodie friends. You will absolutely amaze them! And if you don’t want to clean the squid yourself, buy the best clean squid you can, and visit your local gourmet store to buy jarred squid ink. Nowadays you can buy it ready to use, and it will save you a lot of time.
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