Cooked long and slow in the Provençal style, calamari becomes amazingly tender with a rich and deep flavour. Enjoy it with a crusty baguette, a fresh green salad and a crisp white wine.
This recipe, from PROVENCE Gastronomique by Erica Brown, also works with squid, cuttlefish or octopus. If you intend to clean your own calamari, do this first and cut them into rings. In a saucepan heat some olive oil and fry 1 finely diced onion until it becomes soft and translucent. Add 1kg (2¼ lbs) of calamari and 3 large peeled and diced tomatoes. Bring to a simmer then add 350ml (12fl oz) of dry white wine, 350ml (12fl oz) of boiling water, a bay leaf, a few sprigs of fresh thyme and salt and freshly ground black pepper. Cover the saucepan and simmer over very low heat for 2 hours or until the calamari is very tender. Remove the calamari to a covered bowl with some of it’s liquid and reduce the rest of the liquid by half. Return the calamari to the liquid to reheat. If necessary you can thicken the sauce with a slurry of equal parts cornflour and cold water, making sure to cook the starch. In the last minute or so add 2 minced cloves of garlic and a handful of chopped fresh parsley.
michelle picker cooks 
Lovely method. Calamari needs to be cooked very fast or very slow. I like this approach.