Stuffed Calamari Recipe (2024)

A good quality bread crumb works nicely for stuffed calamari. However, the baking process of taralli deeply intensifies the flavor of the black pepper. This makes them a very desirable ingredient for the filling and yields a uniquely rich taste to the dish.

Instead of starting with breadsticks, is there any reason to NOT use good bakery bread crumbs and lots of fresh black pepper?

This is a very typical Southern recipe, but with a very cool bit of technique that like-as-not made Camille Loccisano's stuffed calamari extra special. Besides the use of taralli, note that Camille seared the ground-up tentacles until they were golden before incorporating them into the filling. This raises the bar for stuffed calamari. Searing the creatures creates awesome flavor. Thank you Camille. Joe Bruno from Bay Ridge, now of bruculino restaurant in Norwalk, CT

Thanks for this. Our Italian family makes stuffed squid on Christmas Eve. It's great to see an interesting variation. (We use "fresh" but dried-out bread crumbs, also pignoli, and we don't add shrimp.)--Ours is baked. We make a separate squid tomato sauce (squid pieces and tomatoes only) and serve it with linguine or thin spaghetti. Those are two of our "seven fishes" dishes.

"They are briefly boiled before being baked, which gives them a very interesting texture. Baked taralli can be kept in an airtight container for several months." (Wikipedia said that). And they are unleavened. So, bread crumbs not the same.

I made this using panko to make it easier, and it worked out really well. The filling expanded a lot though. Initially, I thought I didn't have enough, and put a couple of calamari tubes in un-stuffed, but the filling came out of some of my tubes. Definitely under-stuff. The squid itself came out amazingly tender.

We followed the directions exact and the squids came out perfect. Cooking time was ok for 45 minutes but I think when it comes to squid it has to be a low simmer and that is what the directions say in this recipe. As to the stuffing amount, he says to fill each one "leaving the bottom and top inches unfilled (the stuffing will expand as it cooks)" ----that is the same as filling them half.

I actually simmered for more than 45 minutes (more like 90), since I was busy with guests. I thought they turned out great and wonder whether the extended cooking time actually helped make them so tender. Went a little heavy on the pepper flakes that gave the dish a nice bite.

At times, meal planning goes like this: see what's fresh at the fish counter, then plan a meal. Tonight, it was calamari steaks. At the store, I used the NYT app and found this recipe but didn't read in detail. Instead of tubes, I used pounded calamari steaks. In lieu of tentacles, I ground up some vegetarian sausage. The Italian market didn't have black pepper taralli, but they had traditional. So, I ground some Tellicherry pepper berries and threw in. AMAZING!!!!!!!!! Served w/ Zucchini Frico.

I made this for a Christmas Eve dinner. My first time serving stuffed squid. I read a lot of recipes and liked this one best. Per my usual approach, I ramped up the amount of garlic. When I do it next time (and I will) I will add thyme to both the filling and the sauce and reduce the proportion of bread crumbs in the filling to shrimp and the yummy tentacles. Also will start sauce with a coup,e of anchovy fillets. Even without these tweeks, a total hit. Squid fork tender.

Phenomenal. Made as directed but with some shaved fennel and saffron in the sauce, which was lovely. It can be hard to find extra large squid but you can stuff even medium ones.

Excellent! Made as written.

I made this dish as directed using pepper taralli and thought it was delicious. I don't think the taralli I used had a strong enough pepper bite so next time, I'll add more black pepper to the mix. I bought what I thought were large calamari, only to find out that they were nearly impossible to stuff. Next time, I'll make sure they are larger. The next night, I threw some black olives and capers into the sauce. Both ways were great.

I actually simmered for more than 45 minutes (more like 90), since I was busy with guests. I thought they turned out great and wonder whether the extended cooking time actually helped make them so tender. Went a little heavy on the pepper flakes that gave the dish a nice bite.

I'm thinking of making this next week and serving it over polenta. I know that seafood and cheese (in the polenta) normally aren't served together but has anyone tried this? For some reason, it sounds better to me than just using pasta.

Can someone please explain this direction? "Stuff each squid body with the filling, leaving the bottom and top inches unfilled...." Is there a word missing? Thanks.

Couldn't find taralli, and didn't want to wait for an Amazon order, so I used Delallo bread sticks and pepper. Turned out fine. Got the squid at Whole Foods, and next time, I'll ask the guy for large ones. They mixed in a few small ones, and they were very hard to stuff. Only the whole, though, less work than I expected. Was pleased with the result.

I made this using panko to make it easier, and it worked out really well. The filling expanded a lot though. Initially, I thought I didn't have enough, and put a couple of calamari tubes in un-stuffed, but the filling came out of some of my tubes. Definitely under-stuff. The squid itself came out amazingly tender.

For a calamari stuffing, mix Italian bread crumbs and white clam sauce. You could add the tenicles also. Cover with sauce and bake.

I can not eat shrimp. What else can I use as a subsitute?

This is a very typical Southern recipe, but with a very cool bit of technique that like-as-not made Camille Loccisano's stuffed calamari extra special. Besides the use of taralli, note that Camille seared the ground-up tentacles until they were golden before incorporating them into the filling. This raises the bar for stuffed calamari. Searing the creatures creates awesome flavor. Thank you Camille. Joe Bruno from Bay Ridge, now of bruculino restaurant in Norwalk, CT