Italian Fried Calamari (aka calamad in our Italian home or calamari fritti) is one of our favorite family appetizers traditionally made every Christmas Eve as part of the 7 Fishes.
Fried calamari is in the squid family of seafood and can be found fresh or frozen.
As a little girl, I would watch my mom every year clean and cut up the squid for the holiday and usually prepare it stuffed simmered in tomato sauce which is another delicious recipe you may try called Stuffed Calamari.
Later on, in years we adapted the tradition by making this crunchy coating calamari which is fried, and we even made a sauteed in spicy butter version along with the stuffed calamari for the holiday.
Everyone loves this in our family dipped in a hot marinara sauce sprinkled with grated cheese and hot pepper flakes.
Fried calamari is a relatively recent addition to the American menu and only rose to prominence on American menus in the late 1970s.
For this delicious printable recipe scroll down to the bottom of this post.
Fried calamari is in the squid family of seafood and can be found fresh or frozen.
As a little girl, I would watch my mom every year clean and cut up the squid for the holiday and usually prepare it stuffed simmered in tomato sauce which is another delicious recipe you may try called Stuffed Calamari.
Later on, in years we adapted the tradition by making this crunchy coating calamari which is fried, and we even made a sauteed in spicy butter version along with the stuffed calamari for the holiday.
Everyone loves this in our family dipped in a hot marinara sauce sprinkled with grated cheese and hot pepper flakes.
Fried calamari is a relatively recent addition to the American menu and only rose to prominence on American menus in the late 1970s.
For this delicious printable recipe scroll down to the bottom of this post.
