As soon as the weather turned warmer I found myself wanting to eat lighter. I pick up frozen octopus often at my local Portugusese market, in this case a small section of groceries overfilling a tiny café nearby. Sourcing products all us Portuguese immigrants miss.
This recipe is perfect for summer. It recalls the romantic evenings spent with my husband along the Douro river in Porto.
According to experts, some of the best wild octopus is caught in Portuguese waters.
Chargrilled octopus is a delicacy and not cheap either.
At just under ￡35 a kilo, my little beauty was about 1400 kilograms. It gave me enough to serve 4 as a main and 8 as a starter. It really is worth the effort and price tag. It's Wednesday, a school night and hubby works tomorrow. The World Cup is on, with England battling it out with Croatia. Carlos has invited some work friends over so I thought, perfect! Yesterday, I cooked up the octopus to make for tonight's dinner. A classic of the Portuguese table, oven roasted octopus rice , is divine. Problem is, it is just too hot! I wanted something grilled, easy fast and delicious. This octopus dish is all that and more.
It also looks gorgeous plated up!
Salsa verde is not a Portuguese condiment, but I feel it pairs beautifully with the octopus. If you want to make this dish on a weekend with all the time in the world, then go ahead and make your own salsa verde. I used store bought fresh salsa verde. It is so spectacular, you'd never know I didn't make it :)
The grilled chouriço complements this dish as well, giving it a lovely, smokey depth from the paprika and garlic infused sausage.
Potatoes love chouriço juices, so I thought a few cubed, fried potatoes, would love to mop up all the happy sauce.
A good chunk of crusty warm bread will do also.
Enjoy xoxoxo
Chargrilled Octopus and Chouriço with Salsa Verde
Serves 4-8
1 Previously poached Octopus, follow link below
https://www.thepurpledoorsupperclub.com/single-post/2017/07/03/Polvo-a-Lagareiro-com-Batatas-a-Murro-Roasted-Octopus-with-Punched-Potatoes-Lagareiro-Style
250 g.Chouriço
800 g. Potatoes cut into 1 inch cubes
2 Lemon, 1/2 of one, juice and zest. remaining 1-1/2, cut into wedges for serving.
1/2 cup Kalamata olives, stoned and roughly chopped
1 bunch Corriander
3 Garlic cloves, minced
200 g. Salsa verde store bought or home made
1. Separate the octopus tentacles from body and keep them whole. In a large bowl toss the cooked octopus tentacles with garlic and olive oil. Reserve until ready to use.
2. In a deep fat fryer, heat oil and fry the potatoes until golden.
3. Meanwhile, heat an indoor grill pan, (feel free to fire up the BBQ if you must , but I love this simple stovetop method.) When smoking hot, add the chouriço and cook until crisp, remove to cutting board and slice into thin rounds. In the same grill pan with all the lovely chouriço juices, add potatoes and toss to coat. Put in a large serving bowl and reserve.
4. Meanwhile, get grill pan back to smoking hot. Add octopus and sear until charred, turning once.
4. Place octopus, olives, and corriander into reserved chouriço and potato bowl. Add a good drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice and zest and toss to coat. Divide amongst serving plates and top generously with salsa verde and a lemon wedge.