Chilli Lemon Octopus Food

GRILLED SQUID SALAD

Steps:

• Soak the capers in a bowl of water. Squeeze all the lemon juice into a large shallow bowl and add 4 tablespoons of oil. Peel the garlic and finely chop with the chilli, anchovies, pistachios, drained capers and mint leaves. Scrape it all into the bowl and mix together well.
• Reserving the tentacles, run a sharp knife down the length of each squid tube, cutting through one side only so you can open each one out like a book. Lightly score the inside of each tube in a criss-cross fashion at ½cm intervals. To cook the squid, follow Franchina's guidance and get the tentacles on early, then add the tubes, from largest to smallest. In a screaming hot griddle pan or on a barbecue, cook each piece for about 1 minute per side - with no oil or seasoning - until lightly charred and starting to curl. Start with the cut side when you do the tubes, and keep the squid moving for even cooking. As each piece is done, use tongs to dunk it straight into the salsa, turning and coating it in all that flavour.
• Slice the tomatoes and lay over a serving platter. Finely slice the squid tubes, pull the tentacles apart, then arrange on top of the tomatoes. Spoon over all the remaining salsa, and serve hot or at room temperature.

CHARRED OCTOPUS WITH CHILLI AND LIME ROMESCO SAUCE

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 220C/fan 200C/gas 7. Put the peppers and chilli into a roasting dish, pour over 2 tbsp of the olive oil, season and toss. Remove the chilli and set to one side. Roast the peppers for 20 minutes, then turn them and add the chilli. Roast for another 20-25 minutes until everything is charred and tender. Remove from the oven and leave to cool. Peel the skins off the chilli and peppers, and discard the seeds from the pepper. If you like your sauce spicy, keep the chilli seeds, otherwise discard.
• Put the almonds into a blender and whizz until fine. Add the peppers, chilli, coriander, garlic and lime juice. Season well and blend to a smooth sauce.
• Heat a griddle pan over a high heat until very hot. Rub the remaining oil over the octopus and griddle for 2-3 minutes on both sides until the tips of the tentacles are crispy. Serve immediately with the sauce and lime wedges for squeezing.

HTAPODI ME MAKARONAKI KOFTO (STEWED OCTOPUS WITH MACARONI)

Steps:

• Rinse the octopus under cold, running water and place in pot dripping wet (you don't want to dry it off - this is the moisture it will cook in).
• Add the red wine, garlic, onion, bay leaf and cinnamon and cover the pot.
• Bring to the boil over low heat.
• It is tender when pierced easily with a fork (this can vary from octopus to octopus, so time is not a good indicator of doneness in this case).
• Remove the octopus and let cool until cool enough to handle and cut into bite-size pieces.
• Meanwhile, in pot you have cooked the octopus in, add tomatoes and olive oil. Boil for 8-10 minutes to bind the sauce.
• Stir in the cut octopus and nearly-cooked macaroni and simmer for the remaining 3-4 minutes required to cook your macaroni (if mixture appears too dry, add some of the pasta cooking water - you want this quite 'moist' but not soupy).
• Stir in butter. Remove bay leaf and cinnamon stick.
• Note: I use digitali pasta for this, but I can't get it into the ingredient list with the new Zaar format.
• Bon Appetit.