Spicy Calamari With Tomato, Caperberries and Pine Nuts

Name: Spicy Calamari With Tomato, Caperberries and Pine Nuts
Total time: 15 min
Yield: 2 servings
Cuisine: mediterranean
Ingredients: 1 cup Israeli couscous; 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil; 1 large shallot, minced; 1 rosemary sprig; 4 garlic cloves, minced; 2 tablespoons pine nuts; 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, or to taste; Kosher salt; 1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes; 1 pound squid, cleaned, bodies cut into 1/2 -inch rings, tentacles left whole; 1/4 cup sliced caperberries; 3 cups baby spinach leaves, packed; 1 scallion, thinly sliced, for garnish

By Melissa Clark

Total Time: 15 minutes
Rating: 5(96)
Comments: Read comments

Featured in: The Squid and the Shortcut

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Ingredients

Yield:2 servings

1cup Israeli couscous
2tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1large shallot, minced
1rosemary sprig
4garlic cloves, minced
2tablespoons pine nuts
½teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, or to taste
Kosher salt
128-ounce can diced tomatoes
1pound squid, cleaned, bodies cut into ½ -inch rings, tentacles left whole
¼cup sliced caperberries
3cups baby spinach leaves, packed
1scallion, thinly sliced, for garnish

Ingredient Substitution Guide

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Preparation

Step 1
Bring a small pot of water to a boil and add couscous. Cook for 1 minute, then drain.
Step 2
Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat olive oil. Add shallots and rosemary and sauté for about 2 minutes, until shallots are golden. Add garlic, pine nuts, red pepper flakes and salt and sauté for 2 minutes.
Step 3
Add tomatoes and bring to a fast simmer. Cook for 6 minutes. Add squid and caperberries and cook for about 2 minutes, until squid is just opaque. Stir in the spinach and couscous (spinach will wilt). Season with more salt and serve garnished with scallion.

Ratings

5 out of 5

96 user ratings

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Comments

David6 years ago

I think this may be an artifact of whatever brand of couscous Melissa used; I've made this dish many times and always just follow the instructions (usually 10 minute simmer, 1.25-1.5 cups water for 1 cup israeli couscous...)

Karen 6 years ago

How is it possible that you only cook the coucous for 1 minute?

jay bay11 months ago

Loved it! Caper berries provide that additional crunch factor that you wouldn’t get from regular capers. Instead of adding the Israeli couscous to the pan I served it as the base and then spooned everything else on top. My husband who isn’t the biggest fan of squid unless it’s fried ate it up. Delicious and nice enough could easily serve as a dinner party recipe.

Laurel in OR11 months ago

This was good and has potential. We could not finish it and it was not due to volume. The calamari was just not the right thing; the caperberries good but we think regular capers would be better. Next time, I would increase the couscous to one cup (I used 2/3], fold in the capers, spinach, and couscous earlier (I cooked the couscous separately for about 8 minutes), and add a few scallops at the end for 2-3 minutes. Also, reduce red pepper flakes to 1/4 tsp as it was too much for me.

kgotwalt2 years ago

For the two of us- less couscous (start by backing off to 3/4 cup) and less squid (3/4 lb). Otherwise keep it as is. Caper berries are great. Delicious.

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