Last weekend I decided to prepare a healthy dish after the New Year and Christmas food excess. The weapon of choice: Octopus. I usually prepare it with the traditional "A la Gallega" recipe but this time I decided to go for a twist and use the barbecue to give it a different finish and smoked flavor.
Here is the finished dish:
And here is the detailed recipe: serves 4
You will need 1 medium/big size octopus of about 3 pounds (1,35 kg), 1 large sweet potato, 2 large potatoes, garlic, fresh parsley, paprika, olive oil, sea salt, 2 bay leaves, 1 medium onion, black peppercorns.
Put in a big cooking pot water, the bay leaves, 3 mashed garlic cloves, the black peppercorns (about 15) and the onion cut into quarters, bring it to boil and then put the octopus into the water for 2 seconds, take it off and wait for the boil again. This process helps to achieve the final texture. Repeat this 3 times and then leave the octopus in the water for about 45 minutes. Remember not to use salt right now. Once you have it cooked take it off the water and reserve it for later.
In the same water put the potatoes and sweet potatoes cut in 1 cm (0,4 inches) slices and cooked them until they are firm but ready to eat. take them out of the water and reserve them for later.
Now we go to the grill. With hight direct heat we will put the potatoes and sweet potatoes slices painted with olive oil to grill for a couple of minutes each side just to give them the smoked flavor and a nice color. Take them out and put them in a plate, salt them, add the paprika and more olive oil.
Cut the octopus tentacles, paint them with olive oil and grill them for about 4 minutes each side. Once the tips of them are a little crispy and you see a nice brown color take them out and place them over the potatoes. Add more olive oil, salt, and paprika. Finish everything with a couple of spoons of the cooking water and some chopped parsley.
I hope you like it! I can tell you that my wife and friends really enjoy it.
PS: Sorry for the English of the text, I'm a Spanish native speaker and tried to write this post as better as possible.