Octopus with Garlic (Polipi Veraci All'aglio)
Categories: Italian | Seafood | Ceideburg 2
Serves: 1 Servings
Ingredients:
- 2 Octopus (about 1 1/2 pounds
- -each)
- 1/4 c Olive oil
- 5 Cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 Bay leaf
- 1/2 ts Cumin seeds
- Salt
- 1 sm Green pepper, chopped
- Rosemary leaves and parsley
Instructions:
Cut out the eyes and mouth of the octopus. Remove the ink sac and
internal bone. Cut off the tough points in the tentacles. Put each
octopus on a board and beat them well to break the fibers and make
the meat more tender. Wash them in running water until they are very
white; do not dry but put them in an earthenware dish and season with
oil, flavored with garlic, bay leaf and cumin seeds. Cover the dish
tightly with a sheet of waxed paper or foil tied around the top with
string. Put the dish over a very low heat for 1 to 2 hours,
according to the size of the octopus. When they are tender, drain
them, season with additional oil, salt, green pepper, rosemary leaves
and parsley. Serve in a tureen.
From "Feast of Italy", translated from the Italian edition published
by Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, 1973. Consulting Chef, Giorgio Gioco.
Thomas Crowell, New York. ISBN 0-690-00059-6
It doesn't make reference to it in the text, but in the pictures of
both these dishes, it shows one or two largish octopi garnished with
rosettes of baby octopi tentacles. I imagine you'd do quite well
using the 'baby' octopi like those I see sold around here in the
supermarkets, or even with squid.