FEAST Marinated Calamari Salad

FEAST is participating in Culinaria's Restaurant Week.

For the calamari

Ingredients:

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  • 2 pounds calamari
  • 2 cups red wine vinegar
  • 6 cups cold water

Instructions:

To speed things up, find already cleaned calamari from your fish purveyor. Bring 1 gallon of water to a simmer. When water reaches a good simmer, drop in squid bodies and heads. Poach in this liquid for 3-5 minutes. Remove and set on a plate to cool. While the squid is poaching, combine the red wine vinegar and cold water and mix together. Once squid is cool, slice in to rings and clean the heads of any long tentacles. Add to the vinegar/water mixture and set aside to marinate.

For the neonata

Ingredients:

  • ¼ cup olive oil
  • 4 anchovies (rinsed) Note: The better the brand, the better the results
  • 10 Fresno chilis 
  • 1 onion
  • ¼ cup of olive oil
  • 1 bell cepper cut into medium pieces
  • ½ cup pine nuts
  • Salt to taste

Instructions:

Add the olive oil to a sauce pot. Heat to medium. Add the anchovies and mash into the oil until fully dissolved. Add the chopped onion, Fresnos, bell pepper and mix around in the oil. Cover and simmer stirring from time to time. Cook until everything has melted down, around 25 minutes. Remove to a high sided container, add the pine nuts and salt. Using a stick blender pulse until the mixture is pureed, leaving it barely chunky. Set aside.

For the edamame beans

Ingredients:

  • ½ package of frozen edamame beans

Instructions:

Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add beans and blanch for 30 seconds. Remove and chill in an ice bath. Set aside.

For the dressing

Ingredients:

  • ¼ cup red wine vinegar
  • ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 tsp sugar

Instructions:

Mix all ingredients together in a small jar shaking vigorously. Set aside.

For the garnishing salad

  • ¼ cup pine nuts
  • 4 springs oregano (leaves picked off)
  • Juice of 1/2 Lime
  • Salt
  • 4 oz Parmesan cheese

To assemble the salad

Place the neonata on the bottom of a plate and spread to make a long streak. Remove the calamari from the marinade and add to a bowl. Add the edamame beans to the calamari, salt and enough of the dressing to lightly coat the salad. Mix with a spoon. Lay the calamari out on top of the Neonata sauce.  Combine the pine nuts, oregano, lime and salt and garnish the top of the salad.  Finally, grate a very generous portion of Parmesan cheese all around the salad and the plate.

Serves 4-6

 


About the Author:

Katie Meyers is the Executive Producer of KPRC 2’s Houston Life, an afternoon variety and lifestyle show focused on celebrating the city of Houston. She enjoys podcasts, show tunes, her rescue pup Penny and coffee... lots of coffee.