December is usually devoted to lunches and dinners with friends and family where rules are often bent. A perfect idea to break up the excesses while waiting for the next binge is octopus carpaccio, a tasty and light dish that is easier to prepare than it might seem and is also very scenic. Perfect as a main course or as a light starter, enriched by a note of flavor and color given by the beetroot sprouts.
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Medium
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Cooking time: 25 Minutes
- Portions: 4 SERVINGS
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients
- 2.2 lb Octopus (better if two of 1.1 lb (500 g each))
- 1 Carrot
- 1 Onion
- 1 Celery (one stalk)
- 1 tbsp Extra virgin olive oil
- 1 Juice of 1 lemon
- to taste Parsley (chopped)
- to taste Salt
- 2 oz Beetroot sprouts
- 3 cups Salad greens (lamb's lettuce, mixed greens, …)
Preparation
First of all, clean the carrot, peel the onion and wash the celery stalk, then put all the vegetables to boil in a pot with plenty of water. If you buy the octopus fresh, have the fishmonger clean it for you; otherwise, if you buy it frozen as I did, it is usually already cleaned. When the water with the vegetables boils, drop in the octopus (if it is frozen you can put it in still frozen) and cook over low heat for about 30 minutes. Check with the tines of a fork that it is cooked: it should not resist and should be tender. At this point turn off the heat and let it cool in the cooking water.
Prepare a plastic bottle (I use 1-liter bottles, about 1 quart) and cut off the neck with a pair of scissors. Drain the octopus from the cooking water and insert it into the bottle. Press it well and place a weight on top (I used lead weights from an old scale). Let it rest in the refrigerator overnight.
After the resting time, remove the weight and cut the plastic bottle with scissors to extract the octopus, being careful not to damage it. Once extracted, slice it thinly, preferably with a slicer. Take a serving plate, arrange some salad on it and lay the octopus slices on top. Separately prepare an emulsion with lemon juice, oil, chopped parsley and salt.
Wash the salad and arrange it on a serving plate, then place the octopus slices on top.
Pour the oil, lemon juice, chopped parsley and salt into a small jar. Put the lid on and shake vigorously until you obtain a homogeneous emulsion. Place the beetroot sprouts on the octopus and finish the dish by dressing with the emulsion.-
Notes
If you buy the octopus fresh I recommend that to make the meat more tender once cooked you keep it in the freezer for a day or, alternatively, buy it already frozen. It doesn’t lose flavor and gains in tenderness.
