Mediterranean Octopus Recipes

EASY BAKED MEDITERRANEAN OCTOPUS RECIPE

Steps:

• Preheat your oven to 320°F (160°C)
• Rinse the octopus and discard any stuff from the inner part of its hood. Remove its tooth from the center (the easiest way to do that is to cut the octopus in half. Otherwise, you can pick it out with your finger, but this may be a bit tricky)
• Make a cross with two sheets of foil, about 1.5-2 feet each. Place a piece of baking paper on the center of the cross and place the octopus on top of it. Pour the olive oil and balsamic over the octopus, add the rest of the ingredients and wrap firmly with the foil.
• Place on a baking tray and bake for 1 hour 30 minutes. Unwrap and check to see if the octopus is fork tender. If it seems a little tough, bake for 30 more minutes.
• Unwrap, take the octopus out of the foil and cut into pieces. Drizzle with olive oil and some balsamic and serve.Eat!

MEDITERRANEAN OCTOPUS

Steps:

• Bring a large pan of water to a simmer.
• Simmer octopus, bay leaves, garlic and peppercorns in a large covered pan of water for about an hour or until tender.
• Remove octopus and rinse in cold water. Cut in half and peel outer skin by hand. Cut into 1/2 inch pieces and place in a large bowl.
• Add parsley, onion, olive oil and juice of half a lemon or more, to taste. Season with salt and pepper.
• Mix well, cover chillt for at least an hour. Serve room temperature or cool, after resting outside of the fridge for at least half an hour. Can be eaten as is served with toothpicks as an appetizer, or over spring greens as a salad (if eating as salad, double the dressing).

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.

MEDITERRANEAN OCTOPUS SALAD

Steps:

• Wash the celery and the carrot and put them in a sauce spoon with plenty of cold water, the bay leaves, garlic, vinegar, salt and bring to the boil.
• When the water boils, holding the octopus from the head, dip the tentacles in and out of the water repeatedly for 4 times until they curl up (this will make them tender) then dip the whole octopus into the water.
• Turn the heat down, cover it up and let it cook for about 35 minutes.
• Check that it is cooked by prickling it with a fork. It should be tender, if not let it cook for longer.
• When cooked, take it out of the water and let it cool down.
• Chop it into small pieces, then add the lemon, the cooked chopped carrot, olive oil, salt, pepper, crushed garlic, parsley and mix it all up well.