Octopus salad, fresh and flavorful with very tender octopus, great to eat on its own, with vegetables or potatoes, or to add to a rich seafood salad to impress everyone with a good homemade seafood salad. Now that it’s hot, it’s perfect for enriching fresh summer salads, legume, pasta, or rice salads, as well as potato salads. For the recipe, we need octopus, either fresh or frozen. When I buy it fresh, I prefer to freeze it for at least a couple of days to soften the fibers. Cooking the octopus is the crucial part of the recipe; it must be cooked just right, to serve it tender or slightly firmer according to taste, but in both cases, perfect cooking ensures the skin doesn’t detach. Yes, I’ve seen many salads with damaged or even removed skin and washed again after cooking, which is completely wrong. A dear friend who is a chef and fisherman explained to me that the skin of the octopus should remain intact and should not tear during cooking, nor should it be removed. In fact, intact skin indicates good cooking of the octopus. But I know there are those who can’t resist removing the skin; in that case, just cook it a bit longer, 15 more minutes are enough. Another key element to enhance its flavor is the seasoning, and for this, I refer you directly to the recipe.
- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Costly
- Preparation time: 5 Minutes
- Portions: 2-4
- Cooking methods: Boiling
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons, Christmas
Ingredients for Octopus Salad
- 2.2 lbs octopus
- parsley
- to taste celery
- 1 carrot
- olive oil
- to taste oregano
- to taste lemon
- to taste salt
- 1 clove garlic
- 1/4 chili
Tools to Prepare Octopus Salad
- 1 Pot
- 1 Bowl
- 1 Cutting Board
- 1 Potato Peeler
- 1 Knife
- 1 Small Bowl
- 1 Citrus Juicer
Steps to Prepare Octopus Salad
After cleaning the octopus, removing the pouch, beak, and eyes, and washing it well to remove the suckers, place it in boiling water. Dip and lift it if you want to curl the tentacles. Add chopped carrot and pieces of a celery stalk for flavor. You can also add peppercorns and a bit of white wine.
Let the octopus cook for about 40 minutes per kilogram (about 2.2 lbs), if you cook 2 that weigh 1 kg each, the time remains the same, whereas if you cook one that is 2 kg, the time increases to about double.
After 40 minutes of cooking, turn off the heat but leave the octopus in the pot, allowing it to cool in the cooking water, or leave it for at least 20 minutes if you’re in a hurry. I recommend cooking it the night before.
Once cooled and drained, cut the octopus into small pieces on a cutting board and transfer it to a bowl.
Prepare the salmoriglio sauce for seasoning. In a bowl, combine finely chopped parsley, dried oregano, finely chopped garlic, chili, salt, extra virgin olive oil, and lemon juice, then mix.
Dress the octopus salad with the salmoriglio sauce, which pairs wonderfully not only with meat but also with fish. Mix well, and your octopus salad is ready to enjoy. It can be stored in the fridge in a sealed container for a couple of days and can be prepared in advance. You can also freeze it after cooking, and then just dress it before serving.
