Portuguese octopus salad

by The Kitchen with Great British Chefs
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8–10
60 minutes

Ingredients

Octopus

  • 1 large octopus
  • 1/2 onion
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 garlic bulb
  • 1/2 bunch of coriander stalks
  • 2 strips of lemon peel
  • 1 tsp peppercorns
  • salt

Salad

  • 1 red onion, finely diced
  • 6 sun-dried tomatoes, diced
  • 1/2 red pepper, diced
  • 1/2 bunch of coriander, leaves roughly chopped
  • extra virgin olive oil
  • lemon juice
  • salt
  • pepper

Method

1
Begin by cooking the octopus. Carefully lower into a pot of salted boiling water, then add the rest of the ingredients to flavour the stock
2
Cook for 30–45 minutes or until the octopus is tender when pierced with a knife. Leave in the stock until cool enough to handle
3
Strain the octopus from the stock and dice into cubes roughly 1.5cm in size. Remove and discard any gelatinous bits (usually the webbing area where the tentacles meet the head). Be sure to reserve the stock for another dish as it is full of flavour – it works wonders in paella or seafood stews
4
Place the octopus into a large bowl and toss with the rest of the salad ingredients, along with a generous glug of good quality extra virgin olive oil
5
Taste and season with plenty of salt, pepper and lemon juice