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Sometimes you don’t want meat or vegetables, and you just want a delicious batch of potato hash with a little fish! Or calamari rings! Have you ever thought of that? Not yet, but do you like the idea? Then this is the recipe for you!
The past few weeks we have been so busy finding a new house, packing everything and moving everything from the old house to the new house and that was not easy. In the meantime, I also started a new challenge on Instagram, the #pantryclearingchallenge, after Luis gave me the idea to only cook what I still had in the old kitchen.
And once we were in the new house, I started making spinach omelets on sandwiches, but of course we couldn’t really survive on just that! I had been looking forward to the dish that I am sharing with you today, and decided to immediately make it in the new kitchen! And you can see the result: simple, tasty and easy to make! The lemon really ties it all together!
In Spain it’s very easy to buy frozen fish, from mussels in sauce to giant gambas, calamari rings and even wakame salad! I’m not a big fish fan of course, but I can definitely eat calamari if it’s been cleaned properly! That’s why I bought this frozen bag but I never ended up cooking with it. Until the day before yesterday, and I couldn’t wait to share the recipe with you!
Why ? Because it really is the perfect summer dish, light yet filling, with a zesty touch from the bell pepper and lemon juice! But also because I noticed that I don’t share a lot of fish recipes with you and that needs to change!
Roll up your sleeves, let’s get started!
Ingredients
for 4 persons, 40 minutes preparation time
- 1 kilo of potatoes
- 1 yellow bell pepper (or another color)
- 400 gr calamari rings (frozen or fresh)
- 2 lemons
- 1 tablespoon of thyme
- ½ tablespoon of rosemary
- 1 teaspoon of pimenton powder or paprika
- 30 gr breadcrumbs
- salt
- pepper
- olive oil
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 1 tablespoon of dried parsley
- can of peas
- chili flakes
Preparation
If you’re using frozen calamari, make sure to thaw them in lukewarm water beforehand.
Peel and roughly chop the potatoes. Place a large pot of water on the stove and cook the potatoes for about 15 minutes. They should not be overcooked and still be a little hard. Put a frying pan with some olive oil on the fire and cut the bell pepper into strips.
Add the thyme and rosemary to the frying pan along with the garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Then add the bell pepper and let it fry for 4 minutes. Drain the potatoes and let them stand for a while. Then add them to the bell pepper and turn up the heat. Add a little olive oil and salt and pepper and let it fry for 10 minutes.
Stir gently and add more olive oil, salt and pepper, and let everything fry over high heat until you notice that the potato is getting a little crispy. Then add the pimenton powder and breadcrumbs and stir well but gently. Let it fry again while you prepare the calamari.
Heat enough olive oil in another pan and then add the calamari rings. Squeeze a whole lemon over the pan, add salt and pepper and stir well. Let it fry for 5 minutes, but stir after a few minutes. Cut the second lemon into wedges.
Add the parsley and peas to the potato, stir well again and then add the fried calamari. Sprinkle a little chili flakes over everything and divide the lemon wedges over the pan and serve immediately!
Voilà, a delicious snack for a calamari lover!
The result
Well, I should really make this dish more often! Next time I will use really fresh calamari because I am more of a fan of fresh fish, if I may be honest! But buying some unknown things teaches me a lot and also brings me so much insight and knowledge that I would like to share with you!
And the best thing about this dish is that you can determine the taste yourself. More lemon, shorter cooking time or completely crispy? Everything is possible! For example, you can also add meat, but the simplicity of this dish is what makes it delicious!
But, do realize that you can always go in any direction with frozen ingredients, and that is the beauty of it! Well, I wish you a good weekend and hope to see you again soon! I can’t wait to share the dishes I’m making in my new kitchen!
Do you want to join my challenge or do you have a great recipe for a guest blog? Let me know and who knows, you might end up on my blog!
