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Let's jazz up a classic Italian appetizer by combining it with another popular Italian dish. This fried calamari piccata is the best of both worlds, pairing crispy fried calamari with a zesty lemon picatta sauce.
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What makes this dish special
When I tried calamari in Greece earlier this year, I was mindblown. It was nothing like the calamari I've had in the States; the texture was much more tender than what I used to. Since I cook for a living, I know the importance of using the best ingredients, but after trying fried calamari with fresh calamari, it was still eye-opening. Unfortunately, it's nearly impossible to find the same quality in Los Angeles. So instead of trying to achieve the impossible of replicating Greece's version, I decided to change it completely.
Imagine your favorite chicken piccata dish. Then, swap out the chicken for crispy little calamari bites, and that's what you have here. It's two dishes combined into one!
Recipe
Fried Calamari Piccata
Ingredients
Piccata sauce
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 3 tablespoons butter divided
- 3 garlic cloves thinly sliced
- ½ lemon thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- ½ cup white wine
- ½ teaspoon red chili flakes
- 1 ½ cups chicken stock
- 2 tablespoons capers
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- salt and pepper
Calamari
- oil for frying
- 1 pound calamari sliced into ½-inch thick slices
- ¾ cup club soda
- 1 cup rice flour
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
- 2 tablespoons grated parmesan
Instructions
- Heat 1 tablespoon oil and 1 tablespoon butter in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add sliced garlic and sliced lemon and cook until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Add flour and stir to coat. Add red pepper flakes and white wine and bring to a boil. Continue to cook until almost all of the white wine has evaporated.
- Add chicken stock and capers and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes or until sauce has reduced by half. Add remaining 2 tablespoons butter, whisking until butter is fully incorporated in sauce. Remove sauce from heat and add lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.
- Heat frying oil to 400 degrees F.
- Whisk together club soba, rice flour, paprika, salt, and pepper until well combined. Dip sliced calamari in batter, tossing to coat.
- Carefully drop calamari into hot oil and fry until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Remove calamari with slotted spoon and place on paper towels to drain excess oil. Repeat with remaining calmari.
- Drizzle piccata sauce on calamari, tossing gently to coat. Transfer calamari to serving platter and sprinkle chopped parsley and grated parmesan on top. Serve immediately.
Video
Notes
Step-by-step instructions
Step 1: Prepare sauce
What I love about this fried calamari piccata is that you can prepare the sauce ahead of time. When it's time to serve the dish, you can fry the calamari, reheat the sauce, and toss everything together. Makes entertaining a crowd much easier.
We're sticking to the basic piccata sauce but with the addition of caramelized lemon and red chili flakes for extra oomph.
Heat equal amounts of butter and oil in a large saucepan and cook the garlic and lemon slices until browned. When you cook lemon slices, you bring out the sweetness and the lemon's juices.
Add a touch of flour to help thicken the sauce along with the red pepper flakes and white wine. Since we're going to toss the calamari in the sauce later, we want it to be slightly thicker than a normal piccata sauce.
Add chicken stock and capers, and let the sauce simmer until reduced and slightly thickened. Whisk in the remaining butter, making the sauce nice and silky. Then, season with salt and pepper and finish with a final squeeze of lemon.
Step 2: Fry calamari
Now let's move on to the calamari. Although calamari and squid look similar, you want to purchase calamari. Squid is tougher and better for stuffing and stewing.
Nowadays, you can even buy calamari pre-sliced, but if you want the tentacles, buy the whole calamari.
Slice the calamari and whisk together the ingredients for the batter. We're using club soda and rice flour for a lighter batter and spices for extra seasoning.
Batter the calamari and deep fry them in hot oil until golden brown and crispy. It's important that your frying oil is at the right temperature, or the batter will be soggy.
As much as I love the air fryer, I wouldn't suggest using it for this recipe. The fried calamari piccata batter is too wet for an air fryer.
Drain the excess oil on paper towels and continue frying all the calamari. Then, reheat the piccata sauce if needed and toss the seafood in the sauce.
Transfer the fried calamari picatta to a serving platter and finish with a sprinkle of parmesan and chopped parsley. You can also serve it with extra lemon wedges if desired.
This appetizer might be the most flavorful fried calamari dish I've ever had. The sauce is unexpected but works great with the fried seafood. The bright lemon flavors with briny capers balance the fried calamari wonderfully. I would gladly enjoy this as an appetizer or side any day of the week!
For another delicious seafood appetizer, check out these lemon ricotta crab beignets!
Make-ahead and storage
- Make-ahead: The sauce can be made up to a day ahead and reheated gently before serving. Wait to add the final butter and lemon juice until just before serving.
- Store: Fried foods are best enjoyed immediately, and that applies to this dish. However, if you have leftovers, you can store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.
More seafood appetizer recipes
Looking for more seafood appetizer ideas? Try these:
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