marinated calamari
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Marinated calamari “sto fourno” – Homemade, oven-baked Mediterranean experience

Marinated calamari “sto fourno” – what a simplicity of living and enjoying healthy food! If you never heard the expression “sto fourno” then let us enlighten you. It’s a typical Greek expression for oven-baked meals. Fourno (φούρνος) is the oven in Greek, but also in Italian. And those meals from the “fourno” are the simplest ones! All the artwork is in herbs, vinegar, sea salt, spices and aromatic olive oil. Naturally, our ancestors baked food in clay pots and clay ovens for thousands of years. They mastered the marination of seafood to perfection. When you hear that something was marinated, you can’t help but wonder what the sea has to do with it. Well, it has to do everything you could think of!

The meaning of the word “marinade”

As a non-native English speaker, I love to go to the Cambridge English dictionary and see the etymology and the story behind certain words. Well, when it comes to cooking, most of the expressions come from French. However, in this case, it looks like ancient Romans were the name-givers! The word marinade comes from the French mariner, “to pickle in sea brine,” from the Latin Marinus, “of the sea.” So, let’s just say it’s the best combination of Poseidon‘s gift (sea salt), Athena‘s gift – olive oil, Demetra‘s gift -herbs, and something from Dionysus – red wine vinegar.

marinated calamari

Fresh or frozen calamari?

We totally understand that fresh seafood is not available to the vast majority of people around the globe. However, did you know, if seafood was frozen immediately after fishing, you are more than safe? Naturally, it’s important to read the label and make sure no harmful additives are added, because the food industry just loves them. 😉 Furthermore, it’s good to see the origin of the product. If you don’t live in the Mediterranean zone, it’s good to choose the calamari from South America. For example, Chile and Argentina are our preferable choices when we cannot find Adriatic calamari.

marinated calamari

Marinated calamari – Greek goes Keto style

We love these simple, old-fashioned recipes. As you might know, we recommend eating seafood more often, at least two times a week. When it comes to seafood, marinated calamari is our favourite way to prepare something delicious and inviting. It always reminds us of our great Greek adventures, and perhaps our Keto Mediterranean retreat! Have you heard about this event? If not, we invite you to check out how great it was last year and perhaps consider joining us on one of our next retreats. And in the meantime, let’s cook marinated calamari sto fourno – you will just adore this recipe!

Marinated calamari “sto fourno”

5 from 1 vote
Recipe by Roberta Kapsalis Course: Main courseCuisine: Keto MediterraneanDifficulty: Easy
Servings

2

servings
Prep time

4

hours 
Cooking time

20

minutes

Ingredients

  • 300g (10,5 oz) fresh or frozen calamari cut into rings

  • 6 tbsp red wine vinegar (You can use apple cider vinegar)

  • 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

  • 1 tsp sea salt

  • 1/2 tsp red peppercorn

  • 1 tsp dried oregano

  • 4 garlic cloves

  • 1 tsp red paprika flakes

  • 50g (1,7 oz) butter

  • 1 tbsp lemon zest

  • 1 tsp freshly chopped rosemary

Directions

  • If you are using frozen calamari, make sure they are unfrosted. Cut them into rings. Place them in a ceramic bowl.
  • Place Olive oil, vinegar, garlic and all the spices (except rosemary and lemon zest) in a food processor. Process them till you get a smooth marinade.
  • Pour the marinade all over the calamari rings and mix with your hands. Cover the bowl with plastic foil and place them in the refrigerator. Ideally, you will let the calamari marinate for 4 hours.
  • Transfer the marinated calamari into a baking dish (preferably clay or cast iron dish). Preheat the oven to 200ºC (400ºF). Using a sharp knife, cut cold butter into thin flakes and place them on top of the calamari. Bake for 20 minutes or until you see calamari nicely golden roasted.
  • Sprinkle with fresh rosemary and lemon zest right before serving. You can add some other fresh herb before serving, for example, parsley or dill.

Notes

  • We served it with a little swiss chard sauteed in butter and with the addition of one egg at the end of cooking. You can serve them with any Keto-friendly side dish.

Did you make this recipe?

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