Calamares Ensu Tinta
(Squid in its Own Ink)

Ingredients:

5 lbs. Calamares (frozen) or 4 lbs. (fresh)
16 ounces tomato sauce
2 medium onions
1/2 large green pepper
2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup white wine
olive oil

Preparation:

Clean the calamare. Remove the head, spiny rod, eyes, and outer skin. Keep the tentacles and ink sack. Strain the ink through a fine strainer to separate from the membrane, adding enough water to recover as much of the ink as possible--approximately 1/2 cup. Skin the sack and turn inside out, dry with paper towel and stuff the tentacles inside the sack.

Sauce: Brown chopped oinion, green pepper, and garlic. Add tomato sauce and ink.

Fry the cleaned calamares in olive oil until a golden brown. Add the fried calamares to the sauce and simmer for 1/2 hour, add white wine and cook for at least another 1/2 hour--a little longer can make the squid softer. Sauce should be thick