Ingredients
Octopus marinade:
1 Fremantle octopus
18 leaves of baby cos 2 cloves garlic 3 sprigs thyme leaves
1tbsp Espelette pepper
150ml extra virgin olive oil
Pulse all ingredients, except for the octopus, in a food processor until smooth.
Brine:
3l water
300g salt
Ajo blanco:
300g old sourdough (chopped up)
400g blanched almonds
4 cloves garlic
100ml extra virgin olive oil
50ml sherry vinegar
- In a food processor, blitz the sourdough, almonds, garlic and olive oil with 750ml water
- Season with vinegar and salt to taste
- Check the consistency to ensure it is sufficiently thick
Method
- To prepare the brine, bring the salt and water to a boil in a heavy-bottomed pan.
- Once boiled, whisk to dissolve all the salt and allow to cool.
- Once cool, add the octopus and leave it to marinate for 2 hours.
- After marination, remove the octopus from the brine and rinse under cold water.
- Apply the marinade to the octopus and vacuum seal it tightly in a Cryovac bag.
- Heat a large pan of water on the stove to 65°C and place the sealed octopus in the water.
- Cook the octopus for 7 hours.
- Once cooked, allow it to cool before removing it from the vacuum bag.
To serve:
- Rinse the octopus under cold water and cut the tentacles into 2-inch pieces
- BBQ the tentacles until well charred.
- Add the cos leaves to the BBQ to lightly char them until they wilt.
- In a large bowl, combine the octopus and cos, dressing them with extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, and Espelette pepper.
- Season with flake salt.
- Spread the ajo blanco on a serving plate, arrange the octopus on and around it, and place the baby cos on top of the octopus. Sprinkle a little more flake salt to finish.
Wine pairing options:
- WHITE option 2022 Salvatore Molettieri Greco di Tufo DOCG
- RED option 2021 D.M.L. Pinot Noir Mornington Peninsula
Serves 6
Enoteca Boccaccio
Level 1, 1046 Burke Road, Balwyn
