Octopus Salad
This cold salad is perfect for a hot day in the sun or as an appetiser. Pair it with some fresh !obż and you have a refreshing and delicious light meal. The vinegar should come through strongly. Any leftovers can be kept in the refrigerator for a few days.
Ingredients 11
1 octopus, small, weighing about 600 g (1 lb 5 oz)
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp white-wine vinegar
1 red onion, thinly sliced
100 g cherry tomato, halved
1 handful basil leaves, large, torn
1 handful flat-leaf parsley leaves, large, roughly chopped
lemon wedges, to serve
Your new home
for cooking
Turn your recipe chaos into a plan for the week.
Browse 1000+ inspiring creator recipes
Unlimited recipe import from social media, blogs and more
Generate shopping lists and meal plans in seconds with AI
Method 6
To clean the , cut between the head and tentacles just below the eyes. Cut a slice from the bottom of the head including the eyes and discard. Insert your knife into the head and make a slit in order to open it up. Pull out the contents of the head, then peel off the outer skin. Push out the beak in the centre of the tentacles and discard. Rinse the head and tentacles.
Bring the to the boil in a medium saucepan of water with the added. Once simmering, cook for 35 minutes with the lid on. Turn off the heat and leave the octopus in the water for another 40 minutes with the lid ajar.
Remove the from the water and cut into small pieces of around 3 cm (1¼ in).
Heat 1 tablespoon of the in a frying pan over a low heat and sauté the for 1 minute. Add the pieces and some pepper and increase the heat to medium. Now add the and toss to combine. Check the seasoning and add a dash more vinegar if you like (the flavour will be more subtle when chilled). Remove from the heat and toss through another tablespoon of the oil.
Transfer the to a bowl and leave to cool, then chill in the refrigerator. Once cold, add the , and herbs and toss together. Check the seasoning again and scoop onto a sharing plate.
Drizzle with the remaining . Serve with the lemon wedges and small forks or toothpicks. The goes well with crusty bread, and can even be packed in a container for the beach (if kept cold).
Simon Bajada's tips
Any leftovers can be kept in the refrigerator for a few days.
