Calamari Sauce
This was our traditional sauce on Christmas Eve. Grandma would wake up at 5am and pull out her huge macaroni board and begin making pasta. Our Christmas Eve. Pasta was what we called strips, equivalent to fettuccini. After the pasta was made and neatly arranged to dry, she would then prepare the sauce and stuff the calamari. This was the beginning of our glorious feast filled with fish and pasta.  See our blog for more of Nonna’s Christmas Eve dishes.
Ingredients
2-28oz cans San Marzano crushed tomatoes
1 -12oz can tomato paste
4 cloves garlic chopped
extra virgin olive oil
salt
black pepper
red pepper flakes
12 fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup white wine
4 tbs sugar
Calamari and stuffing:
2 lbs calamari tubes cleaned
1 lb calamari rings and tentacles cleaned
½ loaf sliced white bread cut into bite size pieces
3 eggs
3 garlic cloves finely chopped
½ cup grated reggiano parmigiano cheese
¼ cup fresh parsley chopped
½ cup milk
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp black pepper
String or toothpicks for securing the calamari tubes
Directions
In a saucepan, cover the bottom with olive oil. Add 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp black pepper, 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes.
1. Add chopped garlic and sauté till golden.
2. Shut off heat. Add the crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar, and white wine.
3. Mix and cook over a medium heat. Taste and adjust sauce. If needed, add more sugar, wine or salt and pepper. Taste and adjust if needed.
4. Let simmer on very low heat
Steps stuffing:
1. In a mixing bowl whisk the eggs, add the bread, parsley, milk, cheese, garlic, salt and pepper.
2. Mix all the ingredients together.
3. The mixture should be moist – if too dry add more milk, if too wet add more bread.
Stuffing the Calamari steps:
1. Hold a calamari tube and with a spoon fill with stuffing
2. Tie the calamari with string or push through toothpicks on the edges to hold
3. Repeat till all the calamari tubes are filled.
4. Once all the calamari tubes are filled, carefully place in the tomato sauce along with the calamari rings and tentacles.
Sauce:
1. Add the basil leaves
2. Still on very low heat, let simmer 45- 50 minutes- stir occasionally
3. Calamari rings should be a beautiful white color.
Serve over your favorite pasta. This is amazing over homemade pasta- see our fettuccine recipe
