Octopus in guazzetto

• 10 minutes to prepare • 75 minutes to cook • Serves 4

 

 

As simple as that

It is not often that I can get octopus on clearance in local markets.
And so when I saw it, I grabbed it and used it, even though we had eaten octopus recently.

To celebrate its freshness and the last days of the autumn, I decided to keep it simple, in a basic ragù with fresh tomatoes.
This ‘chunky’ sauce is perfect as a second course dish, or can be used to season pasta, because the morsels of octopus get caught inside the shells.

Here's what you will need for the 4-serving recipe:

  

1 kg octopus
1 clove garlic
20 cherry tomatoes
1 onion
1 spoon tomato passata
100 ml dry white wine
2 bay leaves
1 sprig parsley
EVO oil
salt and pepper

 

1. Pour 500 ml of water in a large pot and add bay leaves, and salt. Bring to boil 
2. As soon as the water boils, immerse the octopus and, lowering the heat to low, cover the pot with a lid. Let it cook for about 40 minutes (20 minutes for each 500 grams of octopus), for 20 minutes if you use a pressure cooker
3. Remove the octopus from the water, and put it on a cutting board. Remove excess skin and cut the tentacles just below their junction to the body. We want to obtain pieces about 3-cm long, with a nice curl at the end of each tentacle
4. Pour 2 tablespoons of EVO oil in a large pot,. When it is hot, add the onion - chopped - and the clove of garlic. When they are golden, add the octopus, too
5. Pour the white wine and let it evaporate. Finally, add the cherry tomatoes - halved -, the tomato passata and the parsley - chopped -. Cook for 35 minutes, adding a ladle of hot water whether necessary
6. Serve with toasted bread and freshly ground pepper on top

In the following, Nutrition Facts of this dish are indicated. Data is provided per serving.