INGREDIENTS
Serves 2
1 small red onion, peeled and roughly chopped
1 medium carrot, peeled and roughly chopped
1 stalk celery, roughly chopped
4 cloves garlic, peeled
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 pound cleaned calamari, cut into rings, legs cut in half
1/2 cup dry red wine
1 (24-ounce) jar marinara sauce
Pinch red pepper flakes
1 (10-ounce) package curly spinach, stems removed and roughly chopped
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1. Place the onion, carrot, celery, garlic, parsley, and olive oil in a food processor. Pulse until the mixture is the texture of pickle relish.
2. Transfer the vegetable mixture to a medium saucepot and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently until it becomes golden in color, about 10 minutes.
3. Add the calamari and wine, increase heat and boil about 2 minutes. Add the marinara and red pepper flakes. Reduce heat to low and simmer gently 11/2 hours partially covered.
4. Add the spinach and simmer partially covered 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and serve in a bowl or over pasta.
SOFRITO
This mixture of ground veggies cooked in olive oil is known as a sofrito. Many Latin cultures have sofritos of some kind. Sometimes the vegetables and spices are cooked, and sometimes they’re puréed raw. But they always play the same role of adding a lot of flavor.