Like a true Mediterranean country, Spain is famed for its delicious recipes with fish and seafood. Nothing surprising there, since the Spanish are their #1 consumer in Europe.
But calamari are still considered the food of choice, as they are believed to be one of the most delicious and tender mollusks. Usually they are prepared chopped into pieces and then fried or breaded but they can also be filled with various stuffings.
They are served either as a main course or in the form of the typical Spanish appetizers known as tapas.
Let's get familiar with a calamari recipe that's extremely popular in Spain. It is actually a salad, not a main dish, but will nonetheless impress all your friends and loved ones if you've decided to surprise them with some Spanish cuisine food.
Green Salad with Calamari
Ingredients: 26.5 oz small calamari, 1 cup olive oil, 2 garlic cloves, 2 tbsp tarragon, several bunches of different salads (you can use purple lettuce, arugula, chicory, curly lettuce, iceberg lettuce or whatever else you would like), several bunches of fresh parsley.
Preparation: Wash the calamari well, remove the heads and any other parts that won't be needed for cooking. Dry them with paper towels and without cutting them (if they're in fact small) braise them in half the olive oil until reddened.
Then transfer them to a small tray and bake 15-20 min. Separately, mash the parsley and garlic together with several spoons of olive oil or use a blender. Sprinkle the calamari with this mixture, stir them slightly and wait for them to cool.
Rip up all of the salads you've chosen by hand and put them in a bowl. Mix a homogenous dressing from the remaining olive oil, tarragon and salt to taste.
Pour the calamari over the greens, add the sauce they've released and the dressing. Toss well and serve. Optionally, you can add 1 small dried chili pepper and croutons.
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