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Spicy Calamari Stew with Garlic Toasts

If you love fried calamari, you’ll really like having a new way to serve squid. The soup is thicker than a cioppino but not quite a chowder, and it’s nice and light. My husband, Todd, loves this soup because it’s spicy and the calamari gives it a meaty quality. Don’t add the calamari until right before you’re ready to serve, though, or it will become rubbery.

Recipe information

  • Yield

    4 to 6 servings

Ingredients

Calamari Stew

3 tablespoons olive oil
4 garlic cloves, peeled and halved
2 cups dry white wine
2 (15-ounce) cans tomato sauce
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme leaves
2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 pounds calamari (squid), bodies thinly sliced, tentacles whole

Garlic Toast

4 to 6 slices of rustic Italian bread
Olive oil, for drizzling
2 to 3 whole garlic cloves, peeled

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Preheat the oven to 350°F.

    Step 2

    Warm the olive oil over low heat in a medium pot. Add the garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Increase the heat to medium. Slowly add the white wine and cook for 1 minute, then add the tomato sauce, thyme, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook for 8 minutes. Stir in the calamari and continue to cook just until the mixture comes back to a simmer and the squid is opaque, about 2 more minutes.

    Step 3

    While the stew simmers, drizzle the bread slices with olive oil. Toast until the bread is crisp and turning golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and rub the top of the toasts with the whole garlic cloves. Serve immediately with the calamari stew.

Reprinted with permission from Giada's Kitchen: New Italian Favorites by Giada De Laurentiis. Copyright © 2008 by Giada De Laurentiis. Published by Crown Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved. Giada De Laurentiis is the star of Food Network's Everyday Italian and Behind the Bash. She attended the Cordon Bleu in Paris, and then worked in a variety of Los Angeles restaurants, including Wolfgang Puck's Spago, before starting her own catering and private-chef company, GDL Foods. The granddaughter of movie producer Dino De Laurentiis, Giada was born in Rome and grew up in Los Angeles, where she now lives.
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