We love trying fresh seafood a couple different ways, most of the time I end up frying calamari. My son thinks its just fried shrimp so we go with it. This time we grilled it. It was good, but we didn’t care for the flavor of this one. I’ll keep searching for a good grilled calamari.
Spicy Grilled Calamari
(Adapted from Food52)
1 pound cleaned baby squid (tubes and tentacles) 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 pinch ground cayenne pepper
1 garlic clove, minced
1 lemon
1/4 cup olive oil
Bamboo skewers
Lemon wedges, for garnish
In a small mixing bowl, combine smoked paprika, cumin, salt, pepper, cayenne and garlic, along with zest from the lemon. Add 1/4 cup olive oil, stirring until you have a smooth, runny paste.
Juice the zested lemon into a second small bowl. Spoon in 2 tbsp of the paprika paste and stir until combined. Cover and set aside.
Pour the remaining paprika paste into a large zip-seal bag. Add squid, and toss to coat evenly with marinade. Seal the bag closed and transfer to the refrigerator to marinate for 30 minutes.
While the squid is marinating, soak bamboo skewers in cold water to prevent them from charring, and preheat a gas or charcoal grill on high heat.
After 30 minutes, remove the squid bodies and tentacles from the marinade and gently thread onto skewers (I like to use two skewers to prevent the food from spinning around, but it’s not entirely necessary). Discard the marinade.
Place the skewers directly onto the preheated grill, and cook for about 2-3 minutes per side or just until the squid turn opaque. Remove from squid from heat immediately, and drizzle with the lemon juice and paprika mixture.
Garnish with lemon wedges. Serve with a loaf of crusty bread to mop up the sauce.
