Spicy octopus doesn’t tend to be an everyday meal but sometimes you just hanker to present a entree that isn’t at all obvious. After all, who doesn’t want to break up the monotony of the nighttime dining ritual by coming up with a seafood dish that is out of the ordinary, to say the least?
So, roll up your sleeves and bring on your ingenuity to create what will be a meal to remember by following the explicit directions of chef David Maclellan of James Republic to make his grilled spicy octopus, served with roasted cauliflower and Meyer lemon confit.
Greek Octopus Recipe
All three recipes follow:
- Ingredients for serving six:
- 1 ½ Octopus.
- 1 Onions.
- 1 Carrot.
- 1 Celery Stalk.
- 1 Garlic Head.
- 1 bunch Thyme.
- 1 tbsp coriander seed.
- 3 bay leaves.
- 1 cup White Wine.
- 1 Box Kosher Salt.
- Marinade:
- ½ olive oil.
- 1 lemon, zested.
- 1tsp ground fennel seed.
- 2tbl red chili flakes.
- 2 smashed cloves of garlic.
- Instructions:
Heavily salt the octopus for 12 to 16 hours. Rinse under cold water. In a 2 quart pot 3/4 full of water add the onions, carrots, celery, garlic, thyme, coriander seeds, bay leaves, white wine and add the octopus. Bring to a boil and then turn down to a gentle simmer and cook for about 1 hour or until tender.
Remove from the water. Add to the marinade for 24 hours, then season with s&p and char on the grill, then dice into ½ inch pieces.
- Roasted Cauliflower Ingredients:
- 1 head of white cauliflower (trimmed to small florets, save the remainder for puree).
- 1C Marcona almonds.
- ½ C castel ventrano olives.
- ½ C. rinsed watercress leaves.
- ½ C extra virgin Olive oil.
- 2 shallots (diced).
- 4 tbl of butter.
- 1 bunch of Italian flat leaf parsley (chiffonade).
- 2 sprigs of thyme.
- ¼ C heavy cream.
- Directions:
Toss the cauliflower with the olive oil and salt and pepper, and roast in a 400 degree oven for 8 minutes. Take the left over cauliflower stem, and sauté with the shallots and 1 tbl of the butter, then add thyme. When the cauliflower is tender add the cream, bring to a boil. Place the cauliflower mixture in a blender, puree until smooth, while blending add the remaining butter, season with s&p and reserve.
- Meyer Lemon Confit Ingredients:
- 2 ea Meyer lemon.
- ¼ C. Champagne vinegar.
- 1/8 C. sugar.
- 1tbl fennel seed.
- Directions:
Slice the lemon 1/16th of an inch thick. In a sauce pot, bring the remaining ingredients up to a boil, simmer for 3 minutes and poor over the slices of lemon, let sit for 2 hours.
After all that prep (and worth every minute) serve this spicy octopus dish in a warm pan with the marcona almonds, olives, roasted cauliflower, diced octopus, chopped Meyer lemon, watercress, and chiffonade of parsley added. Toss the mixture and season with salt and pepper, then spoon some cauliflower puree before scooping the octopus mixture on top.
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