Calamari Ripieni

Ingredients
600 g small squid

Tomato Sauce
800 g tin chopped tomatoes
100 ml red wine
2 Tb chopped flat-leaf (Italian) parsley
pinch sugar

Filling
100 ml olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 small fennel bulb, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
75 g risotto rice
large pinch saffron threads
1/2 large red chilli, chopped
150 ml white wine
2 Tb chopped flat-leaf (Italian) parsley


Instructions
Prepare squid
  • Pull head, tentacles and innards out of bodies
  • Cut heads off below eyes, leaving tentacles
  • rinse bodies, make sure to remove quill
  • Finely chop tentacles and set aside with squid bodies.
Make Sauce
  • put tomatoes, wine, parsley and sugar in saucepan.
  • season, simmer until some liquid has evaporated.
Make filling
  • heal oil, add onion, fennel, garlic and cook gently for 10 min or until soft
  • add rice, saffron, chilli and chopped tentacles. Cook for a few minutes, stirring until tentacles are opaque
  • season, add wine and 6tb of the tomato sauce.
  • cook, stirring frequently until tomato and wine have reducied into the rice.
  • add 150ml of water and continue cooking until rice is tender and all liquid absorbed. Add parsley and cool.
Assemble
  • stuff squid with filling. Do not overfill.
  • Close the tops of the sacs with toothpicks.
  • put remaining tomato sauce in saucepan with 200ml of water.
  • Cook for 2 min, add stuffed squids, cover and simmer gently fo 30-45 min until soft and tender.
  • Don't stir too much or the filling may fall out - try shaking pan to prevent sauce from sticking.
Don't forget to remove toothpicks before serving! Goes nicely with crusty bread.