Calamari fritti

Ingredients

• 2 red chili peppers
• 1 handful coriander leaves
• 800 g pre‑cooked squid tubes (fresh or thawed)
• 1 l neutral cooking oil (for frying)
• 0.5 lemon
• Salt
• pepper (ground)
• 100 g flour

Instructions

1. 1.

   Rinse the chili peppers, pat dry, cut lengthwise in half and remove seeds. Dice flesh finely. Rinse coriander, shake dry and pluck leaves.

2. 2.

   Pat squid bodies dry with paper towels. Cut crosswise into about 1 cm rings.

3. 3.

   Heat enough fat in a pot. Rings should be able to float while cooking.

4. 4.

   Just before cooking drizzle rings with lemon juice and season with salt and pepper. Mix well.

5. 5.

   Preheat oven to 100°C.

6. 6.

   To test oil temperature, insert a wooden stick; if small bubbles rise it’s hot enough (≈170 °C). Place flour in a bowl or shallow dish and dredge rings portion by portion. Tap off excess flour and set on a slotted spoon. Carefully slide into hot oil and fry about 1 minute until golden brown. Turn occasionally with the slotted spoon for even browning. Remove from oil and keep warm in oven until all rings are fried.

7. 7.

   Serve finished squid rings sprinkled with chili and coriander. Offer lemon slices as desired.