Balkan Stuffed Squid with Rice Herbs and Tomato Sauce 🦑✨

Description

Balkan Stuffed Squid with Rice Herbs and Tomato Sauce is a rustic Adriatic-style seafood dish made with tender squid tubes filled with rice, onion, garlic, parsley, lemon, and paprika, then simmered in a rich tomato olive oil sauce. It is warm, coastal, deeply savory, and perfect with crusty bread for soaking up the glossy sauce.
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Hook ✨
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Tender squid, herbed rice, garlic, lemon, parsley, paprika, and tomato sauce turn into a rustic Balkan seafood dish made for dipping bread. 🦑

Ingredients

• Stuffed squid 🦑
• ‌
• 🦑 800 g cleaned squid tubes with tentacles, about 8 medium pieces (1.76 lb)
• 🍚 120 g short-grain rice, rinsed (⅔ cup / 4.2 oz)
• 🧅 140 g onion, finely diced (1 medium / 5 oz)
• 🧄 4 garlic cloves, finely grated (4 cloves / 0.7 oz)
• 🌿 25 g fresh parsley, finely chopped (¾ cup loose / 0.9 oz)
• 🍋 10 g lemon zest (2 tbsp / 0.35 oz)
• 🌶️ 4 g sweet paprika (1½ tsp / 0.14 oz)
• 🫒 30 ml olive oil (2 tbsp / 1 fl oz)
• 🧂 6 g fine sea salt (1 tsp / 0.2 oz)
• ⚫ 2 g black pepper (1 tsp / 0.07 oz)
• ‌
• Tomato sauce 🍅
• ‌
• 🍅 500 g crushed tomatoes (2 cups / 17.6 oz)
• 🍅 120 g cherry tomatoes, halved (¾ cup / 4.2 oz)
• 🧅 100 g onion, finely diced (¾ cup / 3.5 oz)
• 🧄 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced (3 cloves / 0.5 oz)
• 🫒 45 ml olive oil (3 tbsp / 1.5 fl oz)
• 🌶️ 3 g sweet paprika (1 tsp / 0.1 oz)
• 🍋 25 ml lemon juice (1 tbsp + 2 tsp / 0.85 fl oz)
• 💧 180 ml warm water or seafood stock (¾ cup / 6 fl oz)
• 🧂 5 g fine sea salt (¾ tsp / 0.17 oz)
• ⚫ 2 g black pepper (1 tsp / 0.07 oz)
• 🌿 1 bay leaf
• ‌
• To serve ✨
• ‌
• 🌿 15 g fresh parsley, chopped (½ cup loose / 0.5 oz)
• 🍋 Lemon wedges
• 🫒 10 ml olive oil for finishing (2 tsp / 0.3 fl oz)
• 🥖 Crusty bread

Preparation

1. 1️⃣ Prepare the squid 🦑
2. ‌
3. Pat the squid tubes dry. Finely chop the tentacles and keep them aside for the filling. Do not overfill the tubes later, because rice expands as it cooks.
4. ‌
5. 2️⃣ Start the filling 🍚
6. ‌
7. Heat 30 ml olive oil (2 tbsp / 1 fl oz) in a pan over medium heat. Add onion and chopped tentacles. Cook for 5 min, stirring often, until the onion softens and the tentacles release their moisture.
8. ‌
9. 3️⃣ Add rice and herbs 🌿
10. ‌
11. Stir in garlic, rice, parsley, lemon zest, sweet paprika, salt, and black pepper. Cook for 2 min, then remove from the heat. The rice should be coated and fragrant, but not fully cooked.
12. ‌
13. 4️⃣ Fill the squid ✨
14. ‌
15. Spoon the rice mixture into the squid tubes, filling each one only about two-thirds full. Close each tube with a toothpick so the filling stays inside while simmering.
16. ‌
17. 5️⃣ Build the sauce 🍅
18. ‌
19. Heat olive oil in a wide deep pan. Add onion and cook for 5 min. Add sliced garlic and paprika, then stir for 30 sec. Add crushed tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, lemon juice, warm water or stock, salt, black pepper, and bay leaf.
20. ‌
21. 6️⃣ Simmer the squid 🔥
22. ‌
23. Place the stuffed squid into the sauce in one layer. Cover and simmer gently for 28 min, turning the squid once halfway through. Keep the heat low so the squid becomes tender instead of rubbery.
24. ‌
25. 7️⃣ Thicken the sauce 🥘
26. ‌
27. Uncover and simmer for 8 min more, until the sauce looks glossy and lightly reduced. Spoon sauce over the squid several times so the tubes stay juicy.
28. ‌
29. 8️⃣ Finish and serve 🍋
30. ‌
31. Remove the bay leaf and toothpicks. Drizzle with olive oil, add fresh parsley, and serve hot with lemon wedges and crusty bread.

Total Time

⏱ Prep: 22 min
🔥 Cook/Bake: 48 min
🛋 Rest: 5 min
⏰ Total: 75 min

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