Braised Octopus With Spaghetti Recipes

SPANISH OCTOPUS

Steps:

• Place chopped onion, garlic cloves, bay leaf, paprika, salt, and 1 tablespoon olive oil into saucepan. Cook and stir over medium-high heat until onions start to soften, about 5 minutes. Add white wine to create the braising liquid. Bring to a simmer.
• Transfer octopus into braising liquid, turning to coat with the liquid. Cover; reduce heat to low. Simmer 20 minutes and turn octopus over. Continue cooking until octopus is tender, another 40 to 45 minutes.
• Remove from heat; transfer octopus to a large bowl. Pour braising liquid over octopus. Place bowl above a bowl of ice water to cool to room temperature.
• Cover bowl with plastic wrap when octopus and liquid are cool. Refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, at least 2 hours or overnight.
• Transfer octopus to a work surface and mop off braising juices with paper towels; remove as much of the purple skin as you want. Cut octopus into 3 or 4 serving-size pieces. Brush with olive oil.
• Transfer braising liquid to saucepan. Bring to a boil; remove from heat. Strain out solids; transfer liquid to a mixing bowl; let cool about 10 minutes. Stir in lemon juice, extra-virgin olive oil, parsley, salt, and cayenne pepper to make the serving sauce.
• Heat a grill pan or outdoor grill to high heat. Transfer octopus pieces to grill. Cook until flesh is seared, almost charred, 3 or 4 minutes. Turn and cook other side until dark brown, caramelized, and heated through, another 3 or 4 minutes. Transfer to a platter.
• Slice octopus into fairly thick diagonal slices. Place on a serving dish. Spoon braising liquid mixture over the top. Dust with a bit of cayenne pepper, if desired.

SPAGHETTI WITH OCTOPUS BRAISED IN RED WINE

Steps:

• Place 2 tablespoons olive oil in large skillet or saute pan, and turn heat to medium-high. Add carrot, onion and celery. Sprinkle with pinch of salt, and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion becomes translucent, about 5 minutes.
• Add octopus, along with some pepper and a little more salt. Cook, stirring, for 1 minute, and then add wine, bay leaf and garlic. Cook until octopus is tender, for about 1 hour (check with point of sharp knife). Remove octopus, and cut into bite-size pieces. Return octopus to skillet, and turn heat to a minimum.
• Meanwhile, bring large pot of water to boil, and salt it. Fifteen minutes before eating, begin cooking pasta. When it is barely tender but not nearly tender enough to eat, drain it, reserving about 1 cup cooking liquid. Add pasta to octopus mixture, with half the reserved liquid. Cook until pasta is tender but not mushy; add remaining liquid if needed to keep mixture from drying out.
• Add remaining olive oil, along with butter, cherry tomatoes and basil. Stir until butter melts, and then serve.

BRAISED OCTOPUS

Steps:

• Set the saucepan over low heat. Pour in 6 tablespoons of the olive oil. Scatter the onion in the bottom of the pan and add the garlic. Nestle the octopus on top of the onions. Scatter the olives over the octopus. Cover and let the octopus stew in its own juices for 1 hour.
• Uncover the octopus, there should be a lot of liquid from the octopus in the pan. Cover and continue to stew over low heat until the octopus is very tender, about 45 minutes to 1 hour and 15 minutes more, depending on the size of the octopus. To test for doneness, stick a fork in the thickest part of the octopus, it is done if the fork slides out easily.
• Remove the octopus from the pot and let cool slightly. Cut the octopus into 3/4-inch chunks, skin and all. Put the octopus chunks in the skillet and pour in the contents of the saucepan as well. Taste the sauce for salt (the octopus can be very salty) and add the salt, if needed. Get the sauce simmering rapidly over medium heat and stir in the parsley. You should have 2 cups or so of braising juices in the skillet. If there's much more than that, boil to reduce the sauce

SPAGHETTI WITH OCTOPUS BRAISED IN RED WINE

Steps:

• Place 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large skillet or sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the carrot, onion, and celery. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion becomes translucent, about 5 minutes.
• Add the octopus along with some pepper and a little more salt. Cook, stirring, for a minute, then add the wine, bay leaf, and garlic. Cook until the octopus is tender, about an hour (check with the point of a sharp knife). Remove the octopus and cut it into bite-sized pieces, then return it to the skillet; turn the heat to a minimum.
• Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil and add salt. Fifteen minutes before eating, begin to cook the pasta. When it is barely tender-but not nearly tender enough to eat-drain it, reserving about 1 cup of the cooking water. Add the pasta to the octopus mixture, along with half the reserved cooking water. Cook until the pasta is tender but not mushy, adding the remaining cooking water if necessary to keep the mixture from drying out.
• Add the remaining olive oil, along with the cherry tomatoes. Cook for another minute, taste and adjust the seasoning, then stir in the basil and serve.

BRAISED OCTOPUS WITH SPAGHETTI

Steps:

• Pour 6 tablespoons of the olive oil into the saucepan, and set it over low heat. Scatter the onion slices over the bottom of the pan, and lay the octopuses on top. Scatter the olives over the octopuses, cover the pan, and let the octopuses heat slowly, releasing their liquid, and starting to cook in it. After an hour or so, uncover the pan and check to see that there is plenty of octopus liquid in the pan. If it seems dry, add 1 cup of water at a time. This recipe should yield 2 cups of sauce when the octopus is done.
• Continue the covered slow cooking for another hour, until the octopuses are very tender. Start testing for doneness after 1 3/4 hours: stick the tines of a fork in the thickest part of each octopus; when the fork slides out easily, the meat is done.
• Remove the octopuses from the pot, and let them cool slightly. To make a meaty octopus sauce, cut both octopuses into 3/4-inch chunks, skin and all (or you can leave the octopuses whole for serving). Measure the liquid remaining in the saucepan. Again, you should have about 2 cups total. If the volume is greater, return the juices to the saucepan and boil to reduce it. Put the cut octopus meat and the juices in the skillet for dressing the pasta.
• Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil (at least 6 quarts water with 1 tablespoon salt). Drop in the spaghetti, stirring and separating the strands. Cover the pot, return the water to a boil over high heat, then set the cover ajar and cook the pasta until barely al dente.
• As the spaghetti cooks, bring the octopus meat and sauce in the skillet to a rapid simmer; taste, and add 1/4 teaspoon salt if needed (octopus is naturally salty). Stir in the parsley.
• Lift the spaghetti from the pot, drain briefly, and drop it into the skillet. Toss the pasta and the simmering sauce together for a minute or two, until the spaghetti is nicely coated with sauce and perfectly al dente, and the octopus chunks are distributed throughout the pasta. Turn off the heat, drizzle over the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil, and toss again. Heap the spaghetti into warm bowls, making sure each portion gets plenty of octopus pieces, and serve immediately.

ITALIAN STEWED OCTOPUS (POLPI IN UMIDO)

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of salty water to a boil. Toss the octopus into the boiling water , return to a boil and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, then remove. Discard the water.
• Cut the octopus into large pieces and sauté in olive oil over medium-high heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the chopped garlic and sauté for another minute or two.
• Add the wine and bring to a boil over high heat. Stir well and let it cook down for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the tomatoes and chili flakes and bring to a simmer.
• Add about a teaspoon of salt and the honey or sugar. Mix well, cover the pot and simmer for 30 minutes.
• At 30 minutes, add the optional capers, half the dill, and half the parsley. Check the octopus-sometimes small ones will be tender in just 30 minutes.
• If it is still super-chewy, cover the pot again and simmer for up to another 45 minutes.
• When you think you are about 10 minutes away from the octopus being done, uncover the pot and turn the heat up a little to cook down the sauce.
• To serve, add the remaining dill and parsley and black pepper to taste.
• Accompany with bread or pasta either hot or at room temperature. A crisp white wine like Spanish Albarino, Italian Orvieto or pinot grigio makes a good pairing for this interesting seafood meal.