I love calamari in all its forms, crispy and deep fried, sautéed, lightly grilled or tossed into a big old paella. Here, it meets garlicky tomatoes, feta, saffron and fresh herbs to form what I think will be my signature summery stew of 2019. It’s off-the-charts good. And if you close your eyes, the flavors might just transport you to a beautiful island somewhere in the Mediterranean. 

The truth? The inception of this dish was a clear-cut case of “what’s in the fridge” where the stars were all aligned and helped me create something beautiful. But it was such a roaring success with the fam that I went on to make it a few times for cozy dinners with friends. And now I hand it over to you.

I’ve only ever served the stew on grains like fluffy basmati rice or quinoa, but I suspect it would be divine on a plateful of fresh pasta and drizzle of olive oil….

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
  
• 750 g calamari, cleaned and sliced into rings
• 2 tsp dried thyme
• 4 cups stewed tomatoes with their juice, chopped (you can use canned)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground pepper
• 1 roasted bell pepper, skinned, peeled, seeded and chopped finely (you can use pepper out of jar but make sure they are not sweetened and rinse well)
• A big pinch of saffron, manually powdered*
• 1/2 tsp cumin powder
• 1/2 cup white wine (or water)
• 500 g fresh prawns, peeled, deveined and cleaned
• 4 tbsp parsley, chopped
• 4 tbsp mint, chopped
• 2/3 cup feta, crumbled

*To powder saffron, you have two options: Either use a stone mortar and pestle or place the saffron strands in a bowl with a few grains of coarse salt or 1/2 a sugar cube and crush the mixture with the back of a spoon. The salt/sugar crystals will help cut the strands into a fine powder.

Instructions

• Put a large saucepan of medium heat. Add half the olive oil and 1 clove of garlic. Toss gently with a wooden spoon until the oil heats up and garlic starts to slowly sizzle – around 1 minute.
• Add half the calamari and toss with spoon for 5-7 minutes, until cooked. Its water will come out. Pour the content of the saucepan (calamari and cooking liquid) into a bowl and set aside. Saute the rest of the calamari with remaining olive and garlic until cooked.
• Pour the first calamari bowl into the pan and add salt, pepper, herbes de Provence, tomatoes, red bell pepper, saffron and wine/water. Let simmer on low/medium heat for 2 minutes and then add prawns.
• Let simmer for another 20 minutes or until slightly reduced. Delicately stir in the feta and remove from heat. Serve over rice or other favorite grain.