It’s not often that I find fresh octopus at the fish counter of my local supermarket, but it does happen. Whenever I see fresh octopus it takes me back to memories of this ubiquitous mollusc paired with boiled potatoes on the starters menu of most Italian pizzerie and restaurants. Like many people, I used to be under the impression that octopus was really difficult to prepare and cook. But like its cousins, the clam and the mussels, as well as many other seafoods, this misconception couldn’t be further from the truth. The trick with cooking fish, and seafood in general, is usually to either cook it at high temperatures for a short time, or to slow cook it at a low temperature for a long time. In the case of octopus, cuttle fish and squid, especially, anything else makes them rubbery.
Since I do not usually eat potatoes, and I am not really one for 3 course meals, I have adapted my recipes to use octopus and other seafoods as a main course in low GI meals. One way to serve octopus is in salads, as your source of protein, either alone or mixed with mussels, cuttle fish, squid or even shrimps. You can serve this on a base of lettuce, wild rocket or a choice of your favourite grain or seeds (quinoa, brown/red/black/wild rice, millet, barley…the choice is endless). If you do like starters, then this one is a nice one to serve at a summer buffet albeit in smaller quatities. Here is a recipe I prepared recently, with fresh octopus and some leftover mussels and cuttle fish from the previous day.
Summer Red Rice Salad
Ingredients
approx 50 gm organic red rice, per person
1 small octopus, cleaned and skinned
approx 100 gm fresh mussels
2-3 small squid (or 1 small cuttle fish), cleaned and skinned
approx 100 gm fresh prawns (optional)
approx 100 gm cooked mussels (I used leftover ones)
2 cloves of garlic
Small bunch of fresh parsley
1 freshly squeezed lemon
3 tbsp olive oil
Sea salt for cooking
Method
1. Prepare the red rice, or whichever type of rice or grain you wish to use as a base. Cook following the packet instructions.
2. Wash the parsley in a bicarbonate and water mix for about 10 minutes.
3. In the meantime, wash and make sure all the skin and any bones, eyes, ink and beard etc are removed from the squid, cuttle fish, octopus and mussels. Even if you buy them already cleaned, there are always bits of skin and could benefit from a trim.
4. Proceed to cook the octopus in a pan of salted boiling water. Since you are using a small octopus, it will be enough to dip the octopus, tentacles first, into the pot, so they curl, once before easing the whole octopus into the water. Cook for 20 to 25 minutes for each 500gm of octopus and allow to cool in the pot. A little trick to keep the octopus tender is to add a cork (make sure it is 100% cork and not plastic!) in the cooking water.
5. Once cooked and cooled down a little, remove the octopus from the pan and allow it to rest for a few minutes before cutting it all into small cubes, including the tentacles.
6. To cook the squid and or cuttle fish, cut down the middle so you get one flat piece. To avoid the white flesh from curling onto itself during cooking, take a sharp knife and make parallel incisions across the back about 1.5 cm apart, without actually cutting through. Turn round and repeat the same so that you end up with a criss cross pattern. This will allow for more even cooking. You can then use these lines later as your guide to cut into small chunks for the salad.
7. Once ready, heat up a ceramic pan with a little oil and some sliced garlic, allow the garlic to infuse the oil for a few seconds, before adding the squid and cuttle fish. Cook for a few minutes before turning over to complete cooking. How long you cook them for depends on how large and thick your squid or cuttle fish are. You will know they are done when the translucent flesh becomes opaque. Follow the same procedure for the prawns.
8. Alternatively, you can cook them by adding them to the pot with the octopus. Allow approximately 5 minutes cooking time from the end for the squid and cuttle fish, and a couple of minutes for the shelled prawns. (If you go this way, remove these from the pot, leaving only the octopus to cool down in the cooking water).
9. Remove from the heat and allow to cool for a few minutes before cutting the squid and/or cuttle fish, and tossing them into a salad bowl or serving plate with the other ingredients.
10. To cook the mussels (previously cleaned, washed, bearded and soaked in salted water to remove any remaining sand) follow the instructions for Belgian Style Mussels on page 27 of Anna’s Kitchen.
11. Once all the ingredients are ready mix them all (except for the rice) in the bowl, adding some freshly squeezed lemon juice and olive oil as needed.
12. Dry the parsley, trim it, and finely chop it, then add to the bowl and mix.
13. Place your octopus salad on your bed of rice and adjust the seasoning according to your taste. Serve warm.
What recipe could smell and taste more like summer than this?
