Calamari loves to quickly cooked, and it doesn’t need to be deep fried to still be delicious. This recipe ticks lots of boxes for me, it’s quick, easy and all the cutting for the salsa is balance by the lack of it for the calamari.
I’ve made this dish a couple of times and two thinks make it better, first the freshest calamari you can find will make things sing. Second, the hottest grill you can find will give the best flavour. You want it to cook in a matter of minutes, so patting the squid dry befor rubbing with olive oil is really important. It’s also why I don’t add the lime juice until after cooking. The first time I cooked calamari I did not pat it dry and this meant that it was too wet to get brown quickly. You want to get some brown buts from your hot grill.
The corn salsa on this is fresh and light, you don’t have to cook the corn on the grill first, I usually do this while I’m waiting for my grill to get hot enough to sear that calamari so it’s not a big effort.
This makes a delicious starter for 6 people, or make it a meal by serving with a grain salad or rice.
Ingredients
6 small calamari tubes, cleaned
1 tsp olive oil
2 corns cobs in their husks
2 medium tomatoes
1 small lebanese cucumber
1/3 cup coriander leaves
1 red chilli
2 limes
1 Tbs olive oil
salt and pepper
Directions
Heat up a grill (preferably a coal bbq but use what you have!). While waiting for it to cook dice the cucumber and tomatoes into 1 cm cubes, finely chop the chilli and combine these with the coriander leaves in a bowl.
Place the corn cobs in their husks on the grill and turn frequently until the husks are brown and the corn inside has got spots of colour (just peel back a husk and peak). Remove from the grill and let it cool. Once cool cut the corn from the cob and combine it with the cucumber and tomato mixture, add 1 Tbs of olive oil, the juice and zest of 1 lime to this then season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
Pat your calamari dry and then rub with the 1 tsp of olive oil (use more if you think you need to), place it on your now very hot grill and cook for 1.5-2 minutes each side. It should have a little colour from the grill. Remove, squeeze over the juice of 1/2 a lime and season with salt and pepper.
Serve on a platter or individually with the corn salsa over the top and the remaining lime on the side. You can serve any excess salsa in a bowl on the side.
HH. x
