Gorgeous Gluten Free Calamari

When I was first diagnosed with coeliac disease I knew the thing I would miss the most would be fish like calamari, whitebait and taramosalata (which I've written about before). Me and my mum have tried making calamari before and it's been ok but this time we really nailed it; it honestly tasted like the real thing. So for those fish fanatics like me, read on for a gorgeous gluten free calamari recipe. 

Calamari:

- frozen calamari

- gluten free plain flour

- salt

- pepper

- vegetable oil

Ailoi: 

- 3 tablespoons of mayo

- lemon juice

- extra virgin olive oil

- 1 clove of garlic

- salt 

- pepper 

- lemon wedges to serve

Method: 

We used frozen calamari from Sainsbury's which was surprisingly super tasty but you can get it fresh from your local fishmongers (we tend to go to Purkis in Muswell Hill or Crouch End). All you have to do is defrost it and cut it into rings.

Season the flour with salt and pepper and coat the rings with it. 

Heat up a deep pan of vegetable oil (its important you use vegetable oil rather than olive oil as olive oil burns very quickly), filling it about half way up as you don't want it to bubble over. Once the oil is heated lightly pop the calamari rings in. Be very careful when deep frying as the oil will be very hot and accidents can easily happen.

After cooking for about 2-3 minutes transfer the rings onto kitchen towel and pat down. 

For the aioli: 

You can make your own mayo from scratch but this is the lazy version. 

Put the mayo in a bowl and slowly add in a teaspoon of olive oil, stirring continuously so it doesn't split. 

We grated the garlic in to ensure that it was as fine as possible. 

Add in a squeeze of lemon, a pinch of salt and pepper and adjust to taste. 

Serve with wedges of lemon and extra pepper for the table. 

I absolutely adore calamari and making it from scratch is very easy and delicious. 

Serve as a starter or as part of a tapas meal.