Deep Fried Calimari (from Ciao Italia)

By

Chef Paul Delios's crunchy and tender calamari with a spicy sweet pepper sauce will be the hit of your dinner party. The spicy sauce starts out sweet and then heats up as it goes along.

View complete recipe

Ingredients

  • For the breading:
  • FOR THE CALAMARI
  • 2 pounds calamari rings and tentacles
  • 1 quart buttermilk
  • Soak 6 hours to overnight
  • 1 cup semolina
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon of each salt and pepper
  • Sweet Chili Sauce
  • 20 Aleppored chilies
  • or
  • 10 Francochilies (red jalapenos)
  • 2 red Bell peppers
  • 1/4 cup pickled crushed red pepper in the jar
  • 1-1/2 cups plain sugar
  • 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
  • 1/2 cup wild thyme honey
  • 1 cup Red Wine Vinegar
  • 1/2 cup water
  • Zest of one lemon and juice
  • 10 cloves of finely minced garlic

Preparation

Step 1

CALAMARI DIRECTIONS
Preheat a fry kettle with Crisco shortening to 375 degrees.

Drain 1 cup of calamari at a time, and toss in the breading mixture, coat well.

Shake off excess breading and load the fry basket with the coated calamari, submerge in the oil and cook for about 2 minutes or until a light golden brown. Drain well and drizzle with Sweet chili sauce.

SAUCE DIRECTIONS
I like to cut the chilis in half - with the top half, I then split them down one side and remove the seeds and membranes. Then I cut them in a fine julienne. With the bottom half, I cut them into thin rings, leaving the seeds and membrane intact. This way I get a little bit of heat (from the seeds and membranes) and a mix of slivers and rings in the sauce.

In a saucepan I place the rest of the ingredients and my prepared chilies and simmer on low heat for 30 minutes or until the sauce reduces and thickens. Give the mix a good stir when you first start, to make sure the sugars have dissolved in the liquid.

You can cook this longer to get a thicker sauce - it's really up to your preference.

Let it cool and store in a sealed jar in the fridge

View complete recipe