Mediterranean Octopus Salad
Description
Refreshing and light, this salad exposes the most exquisite taste and texture of the octopus due to its freshness and the few accompanying ingredients.
Ingredients
- 1 pound fresh, cleaned octopus, beak removed
- 2 bay leaf
- 3 cloves of garlic
- whole peppercorns
- salt
- 1 small bunch of parsley, finely chopped
- 1 onion, or the greens of several scallions or leeks, finely chopped
- juice from 1 lemon, or to taste
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil (or more, to taste)
- salt and pepper to taste
Directions
- Bring a large pot of water to a simmer.
- Add all the above ingredients and cover.
- Let the octopus simmer for about an hour, or until tender but not over-cooked. To tell if the octopus is ready, use a tong to hold the tip of one of the tentacles and gently twist it—if it falls off easily, it's ready.
- Remove the contents from the pot, discarding the bay leaf, peppercorns and garlic, and rinse the octopus well with cold water.
- Cut each tentacle off of the octopus and slide the slimy pink layer off the tentacles and head, using your hands (much like the loose skin of a roasted red pepper), until left with a pinkish white meat.
- Cut the the entire octopus into cubes. The size is not very important since the meat should be very tender by now, but I recommend about one square centimeter in size.
- Place the cooked octopus in a bowl.
- Add the parsley, onion, and lemon juice. Add the olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
- Mix well, cover, and leave to rest for at least an hour in the fridge.
- Serve chilled, however preferably not straight out of the fridge.
