Fried calamari recipe starts with good quality oil for frying. Pour a generous amount of sunflower oil into a medium size stainless steel fry pan and leave to heat up to approx. 180 degrees celcius / 356F.

While the oil is heating up, cut the calamari on a chopping board, while they are lying flat, or use scissors for extra ease.

Cut up the tentacles too, just in half or thirds dependent how big they are and put them into a mixing bowl.

This fried calamiari is so easy, by the time your oil is at the right temperature, the calamari rings will be ready!

In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine the flour and semolina, along with 3 teaspoons of parsley.

Next, add salt and pepper to season and mix dry ingredients together really well.

My fried calamari recipe has a few extra touches, and this one is my favourite! Squeeze the juice of half a lemon over the calamari along with a sprinkle of parsley and mix it through so it marinates them. This gives them extra zesty flavour and softens them slightly too!

Once you have let the calamari marinate for a few minutes, transfer them, draining them slightly, into your bowl of dry ingredients.

Mix them around until each piece of calamari is completely covered and doesn’t feel wet, again, leaving them for a couple of minutes to set.

Once the oil is ready, you should place the calamari pieces into a strainer and dust off the excess flour gently so there is not too much left in the oil.

Transfer the calamari to the oil and leave to fry for 1-1.5 minutes.

Once the calamari have started to crisp up and brown, strain them from the oil and transfer them over to crushed baking paper or paper towels to get rid of any excess oil.

HOW TO MAKE THE DIPPING SAUCE:

This fried calamari recipe calls for some delicious dipping sauce and I have a simple one.

Mix mayonnaise, sriracha sauce, a squeeze of lemon and sprinkle of parsley together and mix well.

Leave to set until you’re ready to serve. This can be prepared ahead of time even before you make the fried calamari recipe.

E ora si mangia, Vincenzo’s Plate….Enjoy!