Stewed octopus with potatoes, a typical Apulian recipe. A very tasty fish dish that can be enjoyed on its own or accompanied by excellent homemade bread. It’s a very simple recipe and requires few ingredients: octopus, potatoes, garlic, chili pepper, and parsley. In the past, this dish was cooked in a terracotta pot, but nowadays, to speed things up, we can use a steel pot or non-stick pans. In Bari, we are fortunate to be able to buy pre-curled octopuses, ready to be tender and crisp. The octopus is cooked in its own water, and as we say in the Barese dialect, U pulpe se cosce iinde all’acqu’ a sò. This is a phrase we also use to say that those who don’t listen to advice will realize their mistake on their own. Many recipes can be prepared with octopus: in sauce, grilled, stewed, fried, in salad, carpaccio, etc. You just have to taste this delicious dish!
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Medium
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: 2
- Cooking methods: Stove
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients
- 1 octopus about 12 oz
- 400 g potatoes
- 2 oz white wine
- 3 oz tomato pulp
- parsley
- 1 clove garlic
- chili pepper
Tools
- Pan
Steps
Clean the octopus by removing the beak, eyes, and the skin from the sack.
Cut it into small pieces.
Clean and cut the potatoes into pieces.
In a pan, add a drizzle of oil, crushed garlic, and chili pepper. Sauté.
Add the octopus and cook for a few minutes over high heat, stirring occasionally.
Deglaze with wine and let it evaporate.
Then, add the potatoes.
Add the tomato pulp and cook for 10 minutes,
Add the parsley.
Add half a glass of water, lower the heat to minimum, cover, and finish cooking.
To better check the cooking, pierce the potato and octopus with a fork; if it goes in easily, you can turn off the heat.
The stewed octopus with potatoes is ready!
Storage
You can store the octopus with potatoes in the refrigerator for one day. Before adding salt, I recommend tasting it, and if necessary, you can add it at the end of cooking.
Notes
If the octopus is not excessively large, you can cook it whole or by only dividing the tentacles.
