Recipes

Red Wine Poached Octopus Bruschetta

Serves 4 as a substantial meal, or 6-8 as an entree:

Ingredients

1kg packet frozen octopus tentacles
1 cup red wine
2 fresh bay leaves
2 tsp salt
2 tsp black peppercorns
1 small bulb fennel
1 eschallot
¼ cup flat leaf parsley leaves
¼ red capsicum
1 Tbsp dry wild oregano leaves
4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1 loaf crusty bread, sliced thickly
1 clove garlic

Method

Thaw and rinse octopus. Place in a medium sized pot with wine, bay leaves, salt, pepper and ½ fennel bulb (reserving fronds). Add just enough cold water to cover, then apply a cartouche (a piece of baking paper over the top, touching the contents, to prevent drying out). Bring to a slow simmer, then cook for approximately 30 minutes until tender. Allow to cool in the stock.

Once octopus is cool, remove from the stock and pat dry with paper towel. Slice into 0.5 cm thick disks. Very finely chop remaining fennel (white part only), eschallot, parsley, and red capsicum. Mix together with olive oil, vinegar and wild oregano until well coated and check for seasoning.