Baked Squid with Garlic-Anchovy Pasta
Submitted by dtdtctct
Baked squid with garlic-anchovy capellini, the Italian-American Feast of Seven Fishes star reimagined for the home oven. Crispy crumb-coated calamari over silky anchovy-garlic pasta, all in 30 minutes.
YIELD
4 servingsPREP
10 minCOOK
20 minREADY
30 minThis baked squid recipe takes the deep-fried calamari of the typical Italian-American Christmas Eve table and reinvents it for the home oven. Tossing sliced squid with seasoned bread crumbs, spreading them on a baking dish, and roasting at high heat produces shatter-crisp coating without the splatter and grease of frying. A garlic-anchovy butter sauce on capellini underneath turns it into a complete one-platter main.
The hot-oven technique is the genuinely clever part. Squid usually needs either very fast cooking (like flash-frying) or very slow cooking (like braising) to stay tender. High-heat baking treats the squid like fast cooking but adds the bonus of toasting the bread crumbs at the same time. The squid stays tender while the coating crisps to gold.
The anchovy-garlic sauce reads more potent than it tastes. A small dose of anchovy paste melted into olive oil with garlic loses its fishy character entirely and leaves only umami depth and a subtle salty backbone. Add the pasta and butter to that, and you have a sauce that tastes deeply flavored but never aggressive.
Capellini is the right pasta choice for this dish. Its thinness lets the oil-based sauce coat every strand without pooling, and it cooks in the same time the squid bakes, so everything finishes together.
Don’t skip the lemon wedges on the side. A squeeze of fresh lemon over the hot squid and pasta cuts through the richness and brightens the anchovy-garlic backdrop. This is a Feast of Seven Fishes contender for hosts who don’t want to deep-fry on Christmas Eve.
Pro Tips
- Pat the squid completely dry before tossing with breadcrumbs. Wet squid produces a soggy, pale crust.
- Use a wide, shallow baking dish so the squid sits in a single layer. Crowded squid steams and never browns.
- Whisk the anchovy paste into warm oil patiently. A few minutes over low heat is what melts it down into invisible umami.
- Cook the capellini briefly. It’s done before you think it is, especially when finished in hot sauce.
Variations
- Add a pinch of red pepper flakes to the anchovy-garlic oil for heat.
- Stir a handful of chopped flat-leaf parsley into the finished pasta for color and freshness.
- Substitute scallops or shrimp for some of the squid for a mixed-seafood version.
Ingredients
Directions
Preheat the oven to 450F.
Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil.
In a large bowl, toss the squid with the breadcrumbs, oregano, pepper, and one teaspoon salt.
Spread the squid in a large baking dish in a single layer and sprinkle with any leftover crumbs.
Drizzle ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons of the olive oil on top.
Bake for 10 minutes, or until the squid is golden brown and crunchy.
Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, whisk the garlic and the anchovy paste into the remaining ¼ cup oil and bring to a simmer over low heat.
Cook, whisking, until fragrant but not browned, about 3 minutes.
Add salt to the boiling water.
Add the capellini and cook, stirring occasionally, until al dente, about 3 minutes.
Drain the pasta and return it to the saucepan.
Add the anchovy sauce and the butter and toss to coat.
Make a bed of capellini on a platter or plates.
Mound the baked squid on the pasta and serve with lemon wedges.
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