Alda's Braised Octopus with Potatoes
by Gabrielle Hamilton on Sep 30, 2015
Chef Gabrielle Hamilton uses the broth created in this dish as the catalyst for her maiale tonnatto dish and in her periwinkles in chorizo broth dish, showing us how the most delicious things keep getting better and better the longer you re-use the ingredients.
- Servings
- 8 servings
- Course
- Entree
Tags
Ingredients
- 1 octopus, 4-6 pounds, head and beak removed
- ½ cup of extra virgin olive oil
- 1 cup sliced red onion
- 6 garlic cloves, smashed
- 3 chiles de arbol, whole
- 16 small waxy potatoes, peeled
- few good branches fresh thyme
- 1 quart water
- salt to taste
Instructions
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In the enameled Dutch oven, gently heat the extra virgin olive oil and warm the onions, garlic, chilies, thyme, and potatoes. Stir the vegetables until they start to give up steam and look alive. Sweat down a bit but do not get any color, just 2-3 minutes.
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Nestle the octopus neatly in the pot. Add enough cool water to not quite cover the octopus. Season accurately with salt, keeping in mind that the octopus will render its own seawatery liquid into the pot during cooking.
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Cover with the heavy, tight-fitting lid and bring up to a boil. When steam comes jetting out of the pot, turn down heat to a very, very gentle low simmer-and let her go undisturbed 45 minutes.
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Check in on the octopus then, stirring things around, feel the firmness/tenderness of the thickest park of the legs, re-cover, and let it continue to simmer.
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Check occasionally for doneness by piercing the creature with a skewer.
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At first, it will turn bright purple-red and swell up considerably, but when it is nicely tender it will have shrunk and become blueish purple.