Squid in tomato sauce
Источник фото: https://ru.123rf.com/profile_nblxer
Stewed squid in tomato sauce is good both as a soup and as a gravy for simple side dishes.
Stewed squid in tomato sauce is my signature recipe, the idea for which I brought over 20 years ago from Egypt. We cooked something like this at our hotel that I really liked, and at home I tried to repeat this dish at my own risk. It turned out to be an interesting thing, no worse, and even better, than at the hotel! But just in case, I still won’t say that this is Egyptian cuisine, because God knows how they actually cook this thing there.
I would like to especially note that the recipe is ideal for non-strict days of Orthodox Lent, and this is one of the Lenten recipes that are more interesting than other fasting ones. It is very, very, very, very, very tasty: stewed squid in tomato sauce, this is how I usually prepared it for my own birthday. And for holiday dishes, you know, you usually choose the best ones.
Important points regarding the composition of ingredients. The weight of the squid is indicated already thawed and cleaned. Accordingly, you need to take more of them in the skin and in the ice glaze. The amount of lecho and tomatoes in its own juice is quite arbitrary, I always took the first jars I came across and have never made a mistake. The main thing is that the total amount of these ingredients is 3-4 times more than squid. Chili pepper is a must. You don’t have to cut it, but keep the whole pod on the surface while stewing, but it should be there, because it is what determines the very intense aroma and very slight spiciness of this dish.
Ингредиенты
Cleaned squid - 400 g
Lecho - 700 g
Tomatoes in their own juice - 800 g
Onions - 1 pc.
Garlic - 1 pc.
Sweet red pepper - 1 pc.
Chili - 1 pc.
Olive oil - 3 tbsp.
Fresh parsley, salt to taste
Рецепт
1. Cut the squid into rings 1-2 cm wide.
2. Cut the red bell pepper into strips 1-2 cm thick.
3. Chop the onion quite finely, the garlic - on the contrary, quite coarsely.
4. Fry red bell pepper, onion and garlic in a thick-walled bowl in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil until the onion is transparent (about 5 minutes).
5. Throw in the squid rings and fry everything together, stirring until the rings “stand up”, i.e. will not turn from soft and saggy to hard and skeletal.
6. As soon as the rings are spread out, add tomatoes in their own juice and lecho, place chili pepper on top. For those who like it spicy, you can chop the chili, and even take a few. Simmer the whole thing at least until the squids become soft and the tomato sauce reduces and thickens. But ideally you need to simmer for 8 hours; I usually left this dish overnight. During cooking, the pepper smells very strongly, so either spend the whole day chasing away those who want to try it with a ladle, or simmer it at night, and then quickly hide it; I don’t know of any other alternative.
7. Before serving, remove the chili pepper, add salt to taste, and if desired, add fresh parsley.
8. If there are few eaters, you can afford to eat it as a soup. If you need to feed a crowd, then stewed squid in tomato sauce is a wonderful sauce for both rice and pasta, and even boiled potatoes. As you can see, it is quite thick and slightly heaped in the plate. There is no side dish under this mound; it is still a soup serving.