Octopus Salad
Author: this little italian
Recipe type: Salad
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: Serves 2
This cool and flavorful octopus salad is divine - make it on a warm sunny day and dine alfresco!
Ingredients
- 3 lbs of octopus tentacles
- 1 cup of white wine or dry vermouth
- 1 sweet onion
- 8 cloves of garlic
- 1 large lemon
- Olive oil
Seasonings
- salt & pepper plus these dried herbs:
- 2 tbsp dill weed
- 2 tbsp Herbs de Provence
- 1 tbsp chili powder
- ½ tbsp cayenne
- ½ tbsp dried ginger
Salad
- mixed greens (anything you like such as frisee lettuce, arugula or romaine)
- 1 cucumber
- 8 oz cherry tomatoes
- small bulb of fennel
- Dressing
- olive oil
- fresh lemon
- salt, pepper, dried oregano
Instructions
- In a small bowl, mix together the salt, pepper, dill, herbs de Provence, chili powder and cayenne. Set aside.
- Rinse the octopus and leave it whole
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil
- Add the wine
- Add the whole octopus tentacles one at a time
- Cut the onion and lemon in half, add to the water
- Peel the garlic and add to the pot, whole cloves
- Add half of the dried herb mixture. Set the other half aside for later.
- Lower the heat and simmer (lid on) for 2 hours
- After 2 hours remove from heat and let it come to room temperature in the water.
- Remove octopus from the water and gently remove the dark purple skin. It’ll come off easily with your fingers or even by lightly scraping with a fork or the back of a knife.
- Place the octopus in a flat dish and drizzle olive oil on both sides.
- Add the ginger to the remaining dried herbs, give a quick stir and season both sides of the octopus with it.
- Heat up the outdoor grill (or indoor grill pan) medium to high. Lightly oil the grill with olive oil.
- Place the octopus on the grill and sear both sides for about a minute each. This will give it a nice char. Remove from the grill. Slice on cutting board into ½” thick slices (slice on the bias).
- Serve on top of mixed greens, cucumber, tomatoes and fennel. I like to add blackberries or blueberries for sweetness. Dress simply with olive oil, fresh lemon, salt, pepper, dill and oregano to taste.
Notes
Service this delicious char grilled octopus on atop mixed greens and dress simply with olive oil, fresh lemon, salt, pepper, dill and oregano.
