You might have heard me mention that we have a food truck and that we sell fried fish. It’s a pocket sized, Piaggio Ape (3-wheeler) and our menu is as equally small. We sell calamari and anchovies – the fish that our region of the Cinque Terre is known for. For the most part, we’ve gotten pretty cluey when it comes to guessing how much fish to buy at the mercato but sometimes, we get it wrong – either we sell out too early, or we are lugging leftovers home.
In the early days of our business, our fish numbers were routinely out. Often radically. A combo of our inexperience, blinding optimism, or a change in the weather that sent crowds sprinting in a different direction. For the first year, (years) profits were minimal, leftovers – copious. But like all ugly duckling, starter period stories, our business evolved over time. With it, came the spin off (swan like obviously) that both Massi and I became pretty flash at cooking up any leftover fish once we were back home. Compelled to avoid massive food waste, we developed between us, a vast repertoire of calamari and anchovy dishes.
The recipe here for baked calamari and potatoes is one of my favs from the leftover’s repertoire. It is mediterranean sea tasting, light, and dead easy to make. More or less, it is equal parts calamari and boiled potatoes, a slosh of white wine, lemon zest and herbs. The fish and carbs are loosely layered and finished off with a breadcrumb topping that crispies up in the oven. Fresh herbs, especially thyme make a colossal difference here and magnify the other delicate flavours.
Admittedly, appearance wise, this baked calamari and potatoes dish is a little washed-out. I kinda see this as part of its understated charm, but it could well be that for me, the recipe was born from the mindset of using up leftovers, not cracking more things open. If I was going to embellish it, more herbs sprinkled over the top, or better yet finely chopped pistachio nuts scattered over the breadcrumbs would tick all the boxes in terms of adding an extra dimension of texture, taste and colour. Serve with crusty bread to mop of the calamari juices. Add a side salad or maybe some grilled veggies.
Baked Calamari and Potatoes ~ Calamari e Patate al Forno
- 1 kg cleaned calamari, tubes cut into finger width rings, legs halved
- 1 kg potatoes, peeled and cut into chunky chip like, long rectangles
- 125ml olive oil
- 1 lemon, zest and juice
- Salt and pepper
- Fresh herbs – parsley, oregano, thyme
- ½ cup of coarse breadcrumbs (approx. 3 slices of bread)
Preheat the oven to 200º C. Find yourself a baking tray
Boil the potatoes in salted water for 8 minutes or until slightly tender, then drain. Set aside to cool.
Place the calamari in a medium sized bowl.
In a small bowl combine 80ml of the olive oil, lemon zest, parsley, and oregano (the thyme will be used later), salt and pepper. Pour mixture over the calamari and use your hands to combine the fish and the herby oil.
In a separate bowl place the drained potatoes with the remaining oil, salt and thyme, and mix gently to combine.
In a baking dish, place half of the potatoes (there will be gaps), then cover with half of the calamari (again gaps are fine). Repeat with the remaining potatoes, finishing with a layer of calamari (the 2 layers will intermingle which is fine).
Place torn bread in a small food processor and whiz to create coarse breadcrumbs. Scatter over the top of the dish and drizzle with a little extra olive oil.
Bake for 20 minutes at 200 C, followed by 5 minutes under the grill to really get some crunch on the breadcrumbs. Note, if you are freezing the dish, save the grilling until just before serving.
Serve with a little squeeze of lemon juice.
