I have been having fish almost every day recently.. mackerel, cod, clams..and now octopus!
Today I found some gorgeous looking octopus at my local street market and this time I got my mum to prepare it. She has been cooking octopus for at least 40 years so she knows a thing or two about it.
If you are on a diet this will be perfectly suitable as it is so light, delicious and satisfying. It is a simple and straightforward dish to prepare but for really good results you need to follow some basic rules.
There are so many tips and miths on how to cook octopus, some people add a cork in the cooking water which is meant to make its meat more tender. To my experience what is really important is after you have cooked the fish let it cool down to room temperature in its own cooking liquid.
Today I am following mamma’s recipe..and I promise you her food always tastes amazing!
If you have never cleaned octopus before, ask your fishmongers to do it for you and your prep time will be reduced to a minimum.
- Prep Time : 20 minutes
- Cook Time : 35 minutes
Ingredients
- octopus – 1 (1 kg or 35 oz in weight)
- bay leaves – 2
- celery – 1 stick
- carrot – 1
- onion – 1
- garlic – 1
- salt – pinch
- vinegar – 1 tbsp
- For the salad:
- olive oil
- cherry tomatoes – 15
- black olives – a handful
- chopped parsley – 2 tbsp
Instructions
Clean the octopus: make an incision at the base of the head, turn it inside out and remove all the insides, also remove the beak and the eyes.
Rinse well and put it in a colander.
Wash the celery and the carrot and put them in a sauce spoon with plenty of cold water with the octopus, the bay leaves, the peeled onion, the garlic cloves, vinegar, salt and then bring to the boil.
Cook it at a low heat for about 35 minutes. Check if it is cooked by prickling it with a fork. It should be tender, if not let it cook for longer. Now it is very important that you let the octopus cool down in its own water (this will make sure that it is tender).
Cut it into small pieces, add the halved cherry tomatoes, the olives, the chopped parsley and a good drizzle of olive oil. Mix well.
Enjoy with rustic bread
My Little Italian Kitchen 
I’ve never tried octopus. It looks really good, I’m interested in how it tastes.
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I love a simple octopus and potato salad and I also made this for Easter. Your recipe has summer written all over it – yummy! Will make this soon.
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Thank you Elisabetta!
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Quanto adoro il polipo, bravissime tu e la tua mamma, è deliziosa questa insalata di polipo! Un abbraccio!
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You certainly are on a seafood binge at the moment aren’t you? This looks delicious. I may never have eaten clams, but octopus (providing it it cooked well and still tender) is lovely! Not sure I would have the confidence to cook it though!
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I LOVE OCTOPUS SALAD, HAVE BEEN EATING IT SINCE A VERY YOUNG AGE…HAVE BEEN DYING TO DO IT ON MY OWN (SINCE MOM REFUSE TO DO)….I’M JUST CONFUSED WITH CLEANING IT WITH THE INFORMATION U GAVE TO US FOLLOWERS…COULD YOU EXPLAIN WHAT U MEAN TURN IT INSIDE OUT AND CUT THE BASE OF THE HEAD..
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Hi Jeanette,
I have not done a proper tutorial on how to clean octopus yet but I will soon hopefully.
First you need to empty the sac of the octopus’ innards and ink sac. Turn the sac inside out, remove them with your hands. Using a sharp knife cut the head off just below the eyes. You will notice a hole where you will see a beak. You need to remove that. Now, take the head, and cut it above the eyes, so that you’re left only with the sac which is edible. Rinse the octopus well under running water, making sure to clean well the tentacles and the sac (inside and out).
It is easier to do this if you can watch a video about cleaning octopus. Have a look online, you will find that there is lots of information about octopus.
Good luck! x
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This recipie looks both easy to prepare and delicious! I especially appreciate the tip about letting the octopus cool down in its own water! Most people drain and lose that tenderizing process!!!
Thank you!!!
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You are very welcome Alexandra, my mum taught me to leave it in the water,a little trick that works!
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That looks lovely. I have been eating a lot of octopus in Spain, but here where I live it’s not so easy. I would love to try the salad, though.
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I know it is not easy and the octopus is a different type. Mediterannean octopus is particularly tasty.
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Hi I will definately try this recipe, it looks delcious.
When i usually try to cook octopus this way it nearly always stays tough so thanks for the tip of letting the octopus cool in its own water.
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I know it can be difficult with octopus. My mum always cooks it in this way and it seems to work.
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