← Nouns Cooking · Italian

Ingredients

• 1.2 kg octopus, cleaned (fresh or thawed)
• 400 g tinned peeled tomatoes, crushed by hand
• 200 g Cherry tomatoes, halved
• 60 g black Gaeta olives
• 1 tbsp Capers, rinsed
• 2 cloves Garlic, sliced
• 1 pinch Chilli flakes
• 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 3 tbsp Parsley, chopped
• 8 slices toasted country bread, to serve

Method

1. Rinse the octopus and cut it into 4 pieces if it is large.
2. Warm the oil in a heavy pot over medium heat and sizzle the garlic and chilli for 1 minute. Add both kinds of tomatoes, the olives and capers and cook for 5 min.
3. Lay in the octopus, turn it in the sauce, then cover tightly. Cook on the lowest heat for 60–70 min without adding water: it will release plenty of liquid. Stir now and then.
4. Test by piercing the thickest part with a skewer; it should go in as easily as into a boiled potato. If not, cook for another 10–15 min.
5. Leave it to sit off the heat, covered, for 10 min. Cut into chunks, scatter with parsley and serve with toasted bread for the sauce.

Tips

• Freezing then thawing octopus tenderises it, so frozen octopus is a great choice here.
• Do not salt before tasting at the end; the octopus is naturally salty. Serve with gluten-free bread or polenta to keep it gluten-free.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Memorie di Angelina GialloZafferano