Octopus and potatoes is one of those magic Apulian recipes; it is a second course but it can also be an appetizer, a real wild card. Many of you dear friends tell me that the octopus remains hard despite long cooking or secretes to cook it.
And now…fasten your apron.
Ingredients (4 people)
700 g of octopus (medium size)
3 medium potatoes
1 lemon
1 clove of garlic
a few leaves of mint or fresh parsley
extra virgin olive oil or garlic-flavored oil
salt and pepper
Put the cleaned octopus in a pot with cold water and if you want with some bay; leaves then turn on the heat and cook for about 30 minutes from when the water starts to boil.
Turn off the heat and let it cool in its water.
In the meantime, cook the potatoes with their skin in boiling water until they are cooked and soft, then cut them into pieces and put them in a bowl.
When the octopus has cooled, drain it from the water, cut it into pieces and put it in the bowl together with the potatoes, plenty of oil flavoured with garlic, the juice of a lemon, salt and freshly chopped parsley or if you like more mint leaves.
Mix so that the octopus and potatoes are completely seasoned.
A few tips: cook the octopus from cold water and let it cool in its water if you want it to remain soft. You can use extra virgin olive oil instead of garlic flavoured oil but in the first case add a clove of garlic.
