calamari meatloaf

In keeping up with this month's theme of "Undesirable Meats", you may be wondering why squid(calamari)? Calamari is mainstream already but let's be honest, have you ever seen a squid dish that wasn't fried calamari rings!? I don't think so.

Squid wasn't my first choice for an undesirable meat. I went to BJ's last week to find tripe(cow's stomach) but the store didn't have any at the time. They also didn't have oxtails either but that is for another recipe. I saw a box of calamari tubes and tentacles, and I thought, "Nobody has ever heard of a calamari meatloaf before!"

This recipe is basically traditional calamari in a meatloaf form. It's 100% Italian.

Before this recipe, the last time I had calamari was a few years ago at an Italian restaurant in Howard Beach(Queens) and it was really delicious. And unlike the chicken liver meatloaf I made a couple of weeks ago, I was able to turn squid into something delicious.

You will need:

For the cooking vessels:

A lasagna pan
Nonstick cooking spray

For the meatloaf:

1/2 tbsp. of onion powder
2 beaten and whisked eggs
1/2 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup of tomato sauce
Pinch of oregano
Pinch of basil
Pinch of salt
Pinch of black pepper
1 cup of breadcrumbs
1 pound of squid tubes and tentacles

1. Wash your hands! :)
2. Put the first 9 ingredients in a large bowl.
3. Only put the squid tubes in the large bowl next.
4. Mix all the ingredients together.
5. Spray a lasagna pan with nonstick cooking spray.
6. Form 2 loaves.
7. Garnish the meatloaves with the squid tentacles.
8. Bake in a 400 degree Fahrenheit oven for 15-20 minutes.
9. Bon appetit!