← Nouns Cooking · Spanish

Ingredients

• 1.5 kg whole octopus, frozen and thawed, or fresh
• 500 g waxy potatoes, peeled
• 1 tsp flaky or coarse sea salt
• 2 tsp pimentón de la Vera (half sweet, half hot)
• 6 tbsp good extra virgin olive oil

Method

1. Bring a very large pot of unsalted water to a rolling boil. Holding the octopus by the head, dip it into the water for 3 seconds and lift it out; repeat three times so the tentacles curl, then lower it in completely.
2. Bring back to a simmer and cook for 40–50 min, until a skewer slides easily into the thickest part of a tentacle. Turn off the heat and leave it in the water for 10 min more.
3. Lift out the octopus and keep it warm. Bring the cooking water back to the boil, salt it lightly and cook the potatoes for 20 min, until tender.
4. Slice the potatoes thickly onto a wooden board or warm plates. Snip the tentacles with scissors into 1 cm rounds over the top.
5. Season with the sea salt, dust generously with pimentón and pour over plenty of olive oil. Serve warm with cocktail sticks.

Tips

• Freezing breaks down the octopus fibres, so frozen octopus is usually more tender than fresh; thaw it overnight in the fridge.
• Shorter or longer cooking depends on size: start checking smaller octopus after 30 min.

Sources

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

The Spanish Chef (Omar Allibhoy) Foods & Wines from Spain Directo al Paladar