Best Octopus And Potatoes Recipes

CHARRED OCTOPUS TACO WITH HARISSA, CHORIZO CRUSHED POTATOES, AND PICKLED RAMPS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 275°F. Place the octopus, garlic, and thyme in a 5-quart pot or Dutch oven. Pour olive oil over (octopus should be submerged) and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cover the pot with foil, place in oven, and cook until tender, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Check the octopus periodically for tenderness by inserting a paring knife into the thickest part of an arm. When fully cooked, the knife should easily pierce the flesh. Remove from oven and let sit covered until the octopus comes to room temperature. Discard thyme and garlic. Remove and discard head, separate arms, and gently remove the purple skin.
• Toast the chiles in a dry skillet over medium-high heat for 1 to 2 minutes until fragrant. Let cool and remove the stems and seeds. Bring 1/2 cup water to a boil in a small pot. Add chiles and simmer until tender, about 3 to 5 minutes. Purée chiles and water in a blender until smooth, scrape out and reserve.
• Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Sweat the onions until tender and lightly browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the onions, ground spices, lemon juice, and salt to the blender with 3 tablespoons of the pepper purée. Blend all ingredients until smooth. Strain, taste, and adjust seasoning. Harissa can be made 1 day in advance.
• Bring the vinegar, sugar, salt, and 1 cup water to a boil and stir until dissolved. Place the ramps in a heatproof glass container and pour vinegar mixture over. Let sit until ramps come to room temperature, then refrigerate 1 hour. Ramps can be pickled 1 day in advance.
• Start the potatoes in a medium pot with cold salted water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 5 to 6 minutes. Drain, crush with a fork, and reserve.
• Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat and sauté the chorizo, breaking into bits, until browned and cooked through. Strain and reserve oil.
• Heat a grill or grill pan over medium-high heat. Rub the octopus with a little olive oil and grill until lightly charred, about 4 to 5 minutes per side. Slice octopus into bite-size pieces. Meanwhile, heat the reserved chorizo oil and potatoes in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season with salt and pepper. Add the cooked chorizo and toss to combine. Taste and adjust seasoning.
• Warm the tortillas. Divide the crushed potatoes between the tortillas, top with octopus, a spoonful of harissa, and 2 or 3 pickled ramps.

GRILLED OCTOPUS WITH POTATOES, CELERY, AND LEMON

Steps:

• To poach the octopus, adjust the oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 300°F.
• In a braising pot just big enough to hold the octopus, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil over medium-high heat until it is almost smoking and slides easily in the pan, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the octopus and sear it for 8 to 10 minutes, turning to cook all sides evenly, until the octopus is burgundy all over and browned in places. Remove the octopus to a plate and wipe out the pot. In the pot you seared the octopus in, heat the garlic cloves with 2 tablespoons of the remaining olive oil and sauté the garlic over medium-high heat, stirring often, until it is golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Turn off the heat. Remove and discard the garlic cloves and return the octopus to the pot. Add the red pepper flakes, wine cork, and enough olive oil to cover the octopus. Put the lid on the pot and place it in the oven for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, until the octopus is very tender; it will puncture and tear easily with a fork. Remove the pot from the oven, and set it aside to allow the octopus to cool to room temperature in the oil. Remove the octopus from the oil, reserving the oil to poach another octopus within a week, and place the octopus on a baking sheet. (If you are going to reuse the oil, strain it and refrigerate it until you are ready to use it.) Cover the baking sheet with plastic wrap and refrigerate the octopus overnight or for at least several hours.
• Lay the octopus on a cutting board and spread out the tentacles like the petals of a flower. Use a large knife to cut the octopus in half through the body, keeping the tentacles intact. Working from the body outward as if you were cutting off the petals of the flower, cut each tentacle to remove it from the head. Turn the head inside out, scrape out and discard any guck left inside the head, and cut the head into quarters. Cut the body into 2-inch segments, leaving the ends of each tentacle long for their dramatic effect on the plate, and place all of the octopus pieces in a medium bowl or a large, nonreactive baking dish.
• To make the marinade, combine the parsley, olive oil, garlic, and red pepper flakes in the bowl of a miniature food processor fitted with a metal blade or the jar of a blender and purée. Drizzle the marinade over the octopus and toss to coat it with the marinade. Cover the bowl or dish tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate the octopus until you are ready to grill it or for up to three days.
• To make the salad, steam the potatoes until they are tender when pierced with a small sharp knife, about 20 minutes. Remove the potatoes to a plate until they are cool enough to touch. Use a small, sharp knife to remove the peel from the potatoes and discard the peels. Slice the potatoes into 1/2-inch-thick rounds, place them in a small bowl, and set aside.
• While the potatoes are cooking, fill a large saucepan with water, bring the water to a boil over high heat, and salt it to taste like the ocean, adding approximately 1 tablespoon of salt to each quart of water. Fill a bowl with ice water. Place the leek in a fine-mesh strainer and plunge into the boiling water to blanch it for 1 minute. Lift the strainer out of the water and immediately plunge the strainer into the ice water for about 1 minute to cool the leek. Remove the strainer from the water and turn the leek out onto paper towels to drain.
• Prepare a hot fire in a gas or charcoal grill or preheat a grill pan.
• Season the potatoes with the 1 teaspoon of kosher salt and toss to distribute the salt evenly over the potato slices. Add the leek, scallions, sliced celery, and celery leaves to the bowl with the potatoes. Season the salad with salt and pepper, drizzle with 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons of the vinaigrette, and toss to coat with the seasonings. Taste for seasoning and add more vinaigrette, salt, and pepper, if desired. Pile the salad in the center of four plates, dividing it equally and reserving any vinaigrette left in the bottom of the bowl.
• Have the bowl with the reserved vinaigrette nearby and grill the octopus pieces until they are charred on all sides, about 3 minutes total. Remove the octopus pieces from the grill as they are done and place them in the bowl with the vinaigrette you tossed the salad with. Drizzle with another 1/4 cup of the vinaigrette and toss to coat the octopus with the vinaigrette. Taste for seasoning and add more salt, if desired.
• Stack the octopus pieces on top of the salads, dividing them evenly and reserving the long dramatic tentacles for the tops of the salads. Squeeze a few drops of lemon over each serving of octopus. Drizzle 1 tablespoon of the vinaigrette over and around each salad. Scatter a few chive batonettes over the top of each plate, and serve.
• Verdicchio Dei Castelli di Jesi (The Marches)

OCTOPUS AND POTATOES

Steps:

• Simmer octopus in water to cover until nearly tender, for 1 hour or more (check with point of sharp knife). Add potatoes, and cook 10 to 20 minutes longer or until tender.
• Remove potatoes to platter (wood is traditional), and octopus to cutting board. Cool octopus for a couple minutes; cut into bite-size pieces. Combine with potatoes. Sprinkle with paprika, drizzle with plenty of olive oil and toss gently. Top with salt, and serve.

WARM OCTOPUS AND POTATOES

Steps:

• Put the octopus in a pot with water to cover; add the bay leaves, thyme, and garlic. Turn the heat to medium, cover, and bring to a boil. Adjust the heat so that the liquid simmers slowly and cook until the octopus is nearly tender, 30 to 90 minutes (check with the point of a sharp knife). Add the potatoes to the water and cook for another 10 to 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender. Drain and discard everything but the octopus and potatoes.
• Transfer the potatoes to a platter (wood is traditional) and the octopus to a cutting board. Let cool for a couple of minutes, then cut it into bitesized pieces. Add to the potatoes, sprinkle with paprika, drizzle with plenty of olive oil, and toss gently. Sprinkle with salt and serve.