Smoked octopus with charred peppers, preserved lemon and almond puree

The octopus had been in the freezer for a long time. A spring purchase, I had taken it home with big intentions; a light green broth perhaps, or fried in chilli to top a pea risotto. But somewhere along the line I was distracted, and the eight-legged beast had a little more time to acquaint itself with the lost myriad of ice-burnt fish fingers, three-quarter used packets of peas and random chunks of meat jostling for a way out of the cold. But as the summer came on, the octopus was the over-familiar leftover at the party and was more than starting to outstay its welcome. It’s shear bulk in such a tiny icebox meant that competition was tight, and with this heatwave, when a decision needed to be made between having room for an octopus or a box of Soleros, there was only one winner. 

 
But the octopus was not alone, and was joined by many of my culinary outcasts in this recipe. Enter the humble bell pepper, which has rarely (if every) appeared on this blog. Sometimes too sweet, sometimes just the wrong texture, I have no malicious feeling towards peppers. But they are just something that I never seem to crave. Until now that is. The combination of smoky, salty octopus and soft charred peppers seemed to get a big thumbs up in my head.
 
Of course, the smoking side of this recipe isn’t essential. It would be perfectly acceptable (delicious, even) to grill the tentacles after the initial braising process. But I do like a bit of DIY food experimentation, and I’m always surprised with the amount of flavour that comes out of a bit of hay and a deep roasting dish. As with anything that releases your inner pyromaniac, it’s always best performed in an open, outdoor space, with a fire-quenching aid to hand.
 
Serves 4 as a starter or light lunch
 
Ingredients:
 
1 x 2kg octopus (double sucker variety), previously frozen and thawed out 
A few good handfuls of hay, to smoke
 
For the charred peppers:
 
2-3 red and/or yellow peppers 
1 clove of garlic, finely sliced
1 lemon 
A pinch of dried chilli flakes 
2 preserved lemons, centres scooped out and discarded 
A few sprigs of fresh oregano, leaves picked
 
For the almond puree:
 
300g blanched almonds 
1 clove of garlic, finely sliced 
2 sprigs of rosemary, finely chopped 
1 lemon
 
To finish:
 
A few more oregano leaves


Pop the octopus into a large saucepan and add 250ml of water. Bring to the boil, then lower to a gentle simmer and cook for 1 hour, or until the tentacles are very tender. Allow to cool slightly, then remove from the liquid and slice off each tentacle. Discard the head. 

 
Set a heavy griddle pan over a high heat. Rub the peppers with a little olive and sear for about 5 minutes on each side, until blackened and blistered. Remove to a deep bowl and cover with cling film. Allow to cool down, then slice into thin strips. Pour a good glug of oil into a small saucepan and add the garlic and the chilli flakes, along with a pinch of salt and pepper. Fry for a couple of minutes until softened, then remove from the heat. Finely chop the preserved lemon and add to the pan along with the oregano leaves, lemon juice and 2 tbsp olive oil. Stir well, then pour all over the sliced, cooked peppers.
 
Bring a large frying pan to a medium heat and add the almonds. Toast for a few minutes, until lightly browned, then pour over a good glug of olive oil. Stir in the garlic and chopped rosemary along with some seasoning, and fry gently for a further 8-10 minutes. Transfer to a food processor and blend well. Squeeze in the lemon juice and slowly add 3 tbsp of olive oil. With the motor still running, slowly pour in a little cold water to loosen the puree, until it is soft and smooth. Taste and season, and pass through a sieve if necessary. 

 
To smoke the octopus, scatter the hay onto the bottom of a heavy baking tray and top with a wire rack. Arrange the tentacles onto the rack, and use a large sheet of foil to seal. Carefully light the hay with a long match and allow to smoke for a couple of minutes. Place the smoked octopus onto a metal tray and use a blowtorch to crisp up the edges.
 
To serve, spoon the puree onto each plate and top with the octopus, pepper slices and a good drizzle of the flavoured oil. Finish with a scattering of fresh oregano leaves.

Chargrilled octopus with squid ink, winkles, Jersey Royals, wild garlic and samphire

Now that we’re into June the produce is really coming along. The first broad beans are threatening, and I know it won’t be long until my favourite peas start to make an appearance. Expect many a pea love in anytime soon. We’re still clinging on to asparagus, and lovely Jersey Royal potatoes and samphire are back on the menu. Sadly though this time of year spells the end of the wild garlic season, but I think I’ve rinsed it quite enough; using it wherever possible to flavour stuffings, oils and salads. I’ve just about managed to sneak it into this recipe, but from now on I’ll have to slowly build up my anticipation for next spring. 

 
One ingredient that I haven’t rinsed is octopus. I probably on average cook one octopus a year, but that definitely needs to change. A more moreish, delicious thing I struggle to imagine. At work we sell a fair few of these lovable beasts every week, but mostly to Spanish or Italian customers who don’t blink at leaving the shop lugging a 3kg cephalopod behind them. The majority of others squirm, or pull a funny face at a glance! I guess they are slightly intimidating if you’ve never had a go at cooking one before, but you quickly learn how easy and satisfying the results are. Nevertheless, and slightly devastatingly, Katie really isn’t a fan, so I always have to try and steal an evening or afternoon when she is elsewhere before I can quench my octopus cravings. A sunny day last week provided the ideal opportunity…
 
Freezing food rarely improves it, but with octopus (octopi? octopuses? octopus?...) the process performs miracles. Traditionally to tenderise the firm, elastic flesh you would have to bash the living daylights out of it with a mallet, or flail it against the nearest rock. But after a quick stay in the freezer, all of this is done for you. All that is then required is a gentle simmer for just under an hour and it’ll be wonderfully soft. At this point it is ready to eat, and can be tossed through a salad, drenched in marinades or merely sliced and nibbled on at will, but I think that a quick exposure to a fierce heat really gets the best out of it. The deep, savoury, smoky flavour and crispy/soft combination is so addictive. I polished off the lot.
 
This is less of a hot dish, more along the lines of a warm salad; and as I discovered with the leftovers, is equally delicious cold. The longer that the lemon marinade gets to slosh around and permeate into the potatoes, samphire and octopus the better. And it’s a fact that a bit of mayonnaise will always make things better.  

Serves 4
 
Ingredients:
 
For the octopus:
 
1 Mediterranean octopus, the double sucker variety, about 1 kg, cleaned 
2 shallots, sliced 
1 fennel bulb, sliced 
2 garlic cloves 
1 bay leaf 
½ a lemon 
1 large glass of white wine
 
For the squid ink mayonnaise:
 
2 sachets of squid or cuttlefish ink 
2 egg yolks 
1 clove of garlic, grated 
1 tsp Dijon mustard 
250ml olive oil 
1 lemon, zest and juice 
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
 
For the jersey royal potatoes:
 
4-6 medium-sized jersey royal potatoes, washed 
2 lemons, juice only 
1 large clove of smoked garlic, thinly sliced 
3-4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
 
For the winkles and samphire:
 
2 handfuls of live winkles, purged in salted water for at least 20 minutes 
2 handfuls of samphire 
1 lemon, juice only
 
To finish:
 
12 wild garlic leaves, washed
 

Start by braising the octopus. Put the octopus in a large saucepan along with the shallots, fennel, garlic, bay and lemon. Pour in the wine and top up with an equal amount of water. Bring to the boil, then cover and simmer very gently for 45 minutes, or until the octopus is very tender. Remove from the pan to a side plate and allow to cool, then remove the head and chop the tentacles into individual pieces.
 
While the octopus is cooking, boil the potatoes. Put the washed jersey royals into a saucepan and cover with cold, salted water. Bring to the boil and simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until cooked through. Drain well, then cut into thin slices and arrange in a bowl. Make the dressing by squeezing the lemon juice into a small bowl and adding the smoked garlic. Slowly but thoroughly whisk in the olive oil until emulsified, then season well with salt and pepper. Pour two-thirds of the dressing over the potatoes while they are still warm, then set aside. 

 
Put the egg yolks for the mayonnaise into a small food processor along with the vinegar, mustard, salt, pepper, garlic and lemon zest, then blitz together well. With the motor still running, drizzle in the olive oil very slowly, until it is all poured in and the mixture has emulsified into a thick mayonnaise. Squeeze in the squid ink and the lemon juice and combine well again so that the dark colour permeates the whole mixture. Taste and adjust the seasoning, and loosen the texture with a splash of water if needed. Spoon into a plastic squeezy bottle and set aside.
 
Bring a small saucepan of well-salted water to the boil. When hot, add the winkles and boil for 3-4 minutes. Drain well, then use a fork to pick the meat out of the shells. Remove the dark stomach sacks and hard feet from each winkle. Heat a generous amount of olive oil up in a large frying pan until it reaches a low-medium temperature. Add a good splash of water, then add the winkle meat and the samphire. Warm through for a couple of minutes. 

 
Heat a griddle pan up until smoking hot. Coat the octopus tentacles with olive oil, then cook for 2-3 minutes in total, turning once or twice, until lightly charred.
 
To plate up, arrange two of the octopus tentacles onto each plate, along with a few slices of the marinated potatoes. Dot on a good amount of the squid ink mayonnaise, and spoon some of the samphire and winkles on top of the potatoes. Finish with some of the wild garlic leaves and a drizzle of the reserved lemon and garlic dressing.

Chargrilled octopus with red wine and sobrasada sauce, saffron and lemon mayonnaise, basil, peas and girolles

This week my blog is slightly different to normal, in that I have been asked to create a recipe around a certain ingredient; red wine. It is the first of a two-parter, with this entry covering a savoury dish and the next tackling a dessert. I have been challenged by Campo Viejo wines, who I first met up with a couple of months ago for a Spanish ham and wine tasting event. On that occasion I found it so interesting to discover different pairings between the two, and even for a relative wine novice like myself I learned so much. Despite loving to eat Spanish food, I very rarely cook it and I left hugely inspired and eager to rectify that fact! 

When I was initially challenged to create this recipe, I was really keen to create something around the iconic Iberico pork. During the wine and ham event I discussed it with the Spanish food expert, and I loved the idea of a barbequed piece of the pork shoulder; cooked rare in the middle like a steak with a beautifully charred crust. However, in the days leading up to testing my recipe I hit a pretty crucial snag, I just couldn’t get my hands on any of the meat. Working nine-to-five with blogging squeezed into any spare evenings or days off, this is a surprisingly common problem when it comes to some specialist ingredients. This was indeed the case here, and I was forced to consider a last-minute alternative. In the end it was a pretty easy substitution, and something also inspired from my recent travels to Barcelona: octopus. I have wonderful memories of sitting outside picking on juicy, tender bits of tentacle in the sweltering heat, and it also happened to match my other intended ingredients. So a no-brainer really.

When it came to using the red wine, I wanted to create something that was almost like a dressing instead of a thick, heavy sauce. Usually I would associate red wine in cooking with hearty winter dishes, clinging to soft mash potato or slow-cooked meat. But here it combines with lovely light, seasonal vegetables in a very summery plate of food. Campo recommended that I use the Tempranillo for this recipe, which with the sobrasada was perfect with the octopus. It’s almost a take on the classic squid and chorizo combination, but the addition of the red wine helps give a greater depth which ties everything together.

A lot of the more time consuming elements of this dish can be made in advance. Choose a double-suckered, Mediterranean species of octopus that has been frozen and defrosted. This process helps to initially tenderise the flesh, and means that a much shorter braising period is required. This can be done the day before, along with making the red wine sauce and the mayonnaise. The other elements take minutes to throw together and make a lovely midweek meal.

Serves 4:

Ingredients:

For the octopus:

1 large octopus, about 1.5kg, cleaned and previously frozen 
1 fennel bulb, roughly chopped 
2 onions, roughly chopped 
1 leek, roughly chopped 
1 carrot, roughly chopped 
3 cloves of garlic, crushed 
1 bay leaf 
3 sprigs of rosemary

For the marinade:
 
3 tbsp olive oil 
2 garlic cloves, sliced 
1 small dried chilli, crumbled 
2 sprigs of rosemary, leaves picked 
1 lemon, zest only

For the red wine and sobrasada sauce:

2 red onions, finely sliced 
170g sobrasada, cut into small pieces 
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped 
3 sprigs of rosemary, leaves picked 
1 tbsp hot smoked paprika 
500ml red wine

For the saffron and lemon mayonnaise: 

1 clove of garlic, grated 
A splash of white wine vinegar 
½ tsp Dijon mustard 
1 lemon, juice and zest 
A pinch of saffron strands 
2 egg yolks 
250ml vegetable oil

For the charred spring onions:

12 spring onions, trimmed 
½ a lemon, juice only

For the girolles: 

20 girolle mushrooms, trimmed and brushed of any dirt 
1 knob of butter

For the peas:

3 handfuls of fresh peas, podded

To finish:

Basil leaves 
½ a lemon, juice only


First cook the octopus. Put the octopus and all of the vegetables and herbs into a large saucepan and just cover with water. Bring to the boil, then cover and reduce to a simmer for 30-45 minutes until the octopus is very tender. Allow to cool slightly, then remove the octopus and cut the tentacles into individual pieces and the body into strips. Put into a bowl and add all of the marinade ingredients and a good amount of seasoning. Stir to combine, then cover and refrigerate overnight. 

To make the mayonnaise, put the garlic, saffron, mustard, vinegar, egg yolks, seasoning and lemon zest into a food processor and mix together really well. Trickle in the vegetable oil very slowly, until the sauce comes together into a thick mayonnaise. Squeeze in the lemon juice and adjust the seasoning if necessary.

For the wine and sobrasada sauce, put a large frying pan onto a medium heat. Fry the sobrasada, onions, garlic, rosemary and paprika in a little oil for about 10 minutes, or until everything is very soft. Turn the heat up slightly and pour in the wine, then bring to the boil and reduce by half. Transfer to a food processor and blend together really well, then pass through a sieve lined with muslin. Keep warm.

Fill a saucepan with water and bring to the boil.

Melt the butter for the mushrooms in a frying pan on a medium-high heat.

Set a heavy griddle onto a very high heat. If using a barbeque, make sure the coals are really hot.

Roll the spring onions in olive oil and season well, then cook on the griddle for 2 minutes each side until slightly blackened. Remove to a plate and squeeze over the lemon juice. 

When the onions are done cook the octopus on the same griddle. Fry very quicky for 1-2 minutes each side before removing and squeezing more lemon over the top.

While the onions and octopus is cooking, fry the mushrooms in the melted butter for 2-3 minutes until lightly coloured and cooked through.

Cook the peas for about 2 minutes in the boiling water until just tender. Drain and season.

To plate up, arrange 3 spring onions on each plate and top with three pieces of charred octopus. Dot some of the mayonnaise around the sides and scatter on some peas and girolles. Spoon over some of the sauce and finish with a few basil leaves.

Octopus with courgette, prawn, clams and a tomato consomme

I love it when I finally get round to cooking something that I’ve had on my mind for ages. Ever since watching Raymond Blanc create his ‘tomato essence’ during the Kitchen Secrets series, I’ve had it down on my ‘to do’ list but have never got round to it. This recipe involves loads of long winded processes and planning, but this weekend I got my act together and it was well worth it.

I have followed similar stages to Raymond in making it, but have tweaked the ingredients slightly. I thought that oregano would add a nice citrus element that would give the basil and tomatoes a more rounded flavour. Although the consomme is quite intense on it’s own and would make a lovely elegant starter (or even be great in a cocktail or bloody mary), I wanted to use it as part of a bigger dish. Enter another ingredient that I had been wanting to use: octopus. I recently spotted some Cornish octopus at my local fishmonger, and that was too good an opportunity to miss. It was time to tell if the dish that I had in my head would come together into something good. 

I have had octopus a couple of times before in Spanish restaurants to mixed results. Most of the times it has been beautiful and tender, like a meatier version of squid. However, on one time it was awfully tough and quite unpleasant, so even though I wanted to cook it, I knew that I had to approach it with care. After doing some research, it appeared that freezing the octopus for 48 hours was recommended before some long slow cooking and a final flash fry. Flavour-wise, octopus is again similar to squid in being subtle and almost tasteless, and it needs something adding to it. I thought that the tomatoes, basil and shellfish would go perfectly with this to create a dish that was light and not too overpowering.

Although this meal took a lot of time to prepare, most of the steps were really simple and didn’t feel like the massive slog that I expected it to be. The main thing is patience, especially with the consomme where I had to resist the urge to squeeze the bag of muslin. In order for the liquid to be a pure, clear colour, it must gently drip out without being forced.   It might seem like a lot of tomatoes to waste just to collect the liquid, but don’t throw them away - they can easily be turned into the base for a sauce or stew on another occasion. 

The other parts of the dish are all quite simple, and can easily be prepared whilst the octopus is poaching. The only difficult thing is right at the end when a lot of pans are used to cook everything before serving. But it was worth it in the end, and unlike many recipe combinations that I dream up in my head, the finished dish worked really well. 

Serves 2 

Ingredients:

For the consomme:

1.2kg cherry tomatoes

1/2 fennel bulb, sliced

1 shallot, sliced

1 garlic clove, finely sliced

1/2 bunch basil, leaves torn roughly

10 sprigs oregano, leaves picked

2 sprigs thyme

1 bay leaf

Large pinch of salt 

2 tbsp caster sugar

For the octopus:

2 medium octopuses, around 300g after being cleaned

1 fennel bult, chopped roughly

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 bay leaf

1 shallot, chopped roughly

1 carrot, chopped roughly

3 sprigs thyme

1 lemon, zest only

Salt and pepper

For the marinate:

3 tbsp olive oil

2 sprigs thyme, leaves picked

1 lemon, juice only

1/2 red chilli, sliced roughly

For the chilli oil:

5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

3 red chillies, finely sliced

4 strips lemon zest

Shells from the prawns, roasted

3 large prawns, shells kept for the chilli oil

1 courgette

200g clams

To finish:

Salad fennel, basil and oregano leaves

Prepare the octopus and tomato consomme a couple of days in advance of serving. 

Gut and clean the octopus, wrap in cling film and freeze for 48 hours. This will help to tenderise the octopus which can sometimes be tough.

For the tomato consomme, halve the cherry tomatoes and put in a large bowl with the fennel, shallot, garlic, basil, oregano, thyme, bay, salt and sugar. Stir well to combine, seal with cling film and put in the fridge for about 6 hours. 

When the marinating time is up, remove the tomatoes from the fridge. Using a food processor, pulse the tomatoes in batches until they are roughly chopped. Wrap the mixture with 2 layers of muslin and carefully hang above a large bowl overnight. Let the juices gently drip from the muslin bag without moving or squeezing; you want the consomme to be clear and not cloudy. When all of the liquid has been collected, set aside and chill until needed. 

On the day of cooking, again the octopus needs to be thawed out and put on first. Put the fennel, shallot, carrot, garlic, bay, lemon zest and pepper into a saucepan and cover with a good amount of water. Bring to a simmer then add the octopus and continue to simmer for between 1-2 hours, or until very tender. While the octopus is cooking make the marinate by combining the oil, lemon juice, chilli, thyme and seasoning. When the octopus is ready, remove from the saucepan (keeping about 250ml of the liquid), cut each tentacle away and the body into pieces and add to the marinate. 

While the octopus is cooking prepare the rest of the ingredients. Peel the prawns, reserving the shells, and cut into 1cm pieces. Set aside until needed. Heat the oven to 200ºC, and when hot, roast the shells for a couple of minutes until lightly coloured.

To make the chilli oil, pour the extra virgin olive oil into a small saucepan and add the roasted shells, sliced chillies and lemon zest. Gently heat the oil on a low heat for about 5 minutes, without letting it get too hot. You just want to warm the ingredients up enough to infuse the oil without cooking them. Turn the heat off then allow the oil to cool down in the pan. Strain into a bowl and set aside. 

Using a mellon baller, cut out circles of the courgette leaving the skin still on one side. If you don’t have a mellon baller then cut the courgette into 1/2” pieces. 

When the octopus is cooked and marinating, get everything ready to finish up.  

Put three quarters of the finished consomme into a small saucepan and bring up to just before simmering. 

Heat up a saucepan to a medium temperature and add the remaining quarter of the consomme. When the liquid is hot, add the courgette pieces and cook for a couple of minutes. Tip in the prepared prawns and continue to poach gently for another two minutes, until the prawns are cooked and the courgettes still have a little bit of bite. 

At the same time as the courgettes are cooking, put another saucepan on to a medium - high heat. When hot add the reserved octopus stock and bring to the boil. Add the clams and cover the pan, giving it a little shake. Keep covered for about two minutes, or until the clams open. Season with a little salt and pepper.

Finally, finish cooking the octopus by heating a non-stick frying pan on a high heat. When hot, add the octopus pieces and a little of the marinating juices and fry quickly for a minute on each side. Season well.

To plate up, arrange the octopus in the centre of a shallow bowl. Surround with the cooked courgettes, prawn pieces and clams, and drizzle with a little of the chilli oil. Top with some of the salad fennel, basil and oregano leaves, then carefully pour in some of the warm consomme.