Spanish Octopus with Patatas Bravas and Courgettes

Spanish Octopus with Patatas Bravas and Courgettes. Determined to try new ingredients, I came up with this Spanish Octopus dish. Unbeknown to me, octopus can regularly be found off the coast of Aberdeen in the North Sea. I was told that fishermen are wary of giving too much detail regarding the exact location of the octopus, in fear of others finding out, but that it had been landed at either Fraserburgh or Peterhead. Even better, it’s not got the luxury price tag you would expect from an exotic ingredient. Researching octopus dishes showed me that it goes well with strong flavourings. I decided to do it Spanish style with a taste of paprika throughout. I served it with my version of patatas bravas,  roasted courgette, parsley oil and garlic aoili. It does take some time to prepare the octopus, but is worth it for something a little different.

I sourced my octopus from Granite City Fish in Aberdeen city centre. I got the octopus frozen. However, if you buy it fresh, it is still best to freeze the octopus before use as this helps to tenderise it. For a video on how to prepare the octopus, I found this video really helpful-  Preparing octopus.   An important step in tenderising the octopus is to dip the octopus in boiling water. After this you can then begin the long slow braise in the oven. 

If you liked my Spanish Octopus recipe, then try out my recipe for Spaghetti Arrabiata with Octopus and Prawns. 

Contact me:

If you have questions about my Spanish Octopus recipe, contact me at [email protected].

Tips:

• The octopus can be replaced easily with squid , or even chicken. If using squid, either flash fry (frying for longer than a couple minutes will render it tough) or braise/grill in the exact same way as the octopus. If using chicken, slow braised chicken thighs would work the same , reducing the oven time to 1 hour. But octopus really is a cheap way to try something new!
• To save time, the courgette could be fried over a medium high heat for 5 minutes 
• Goes well with garlic aioli: recipe here 
• Use any vegetable that you have in the fridge , good substitutes could be: peppers, aubergines or asparagus. 

Spanish Octopus with Patatas Bravas and Courgettes

Spanish style Octopus with a taste of paprika throughout served with my version of patatas bravas,  roasted courgette, parsley oil and garlic aoili

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 2 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine spanish

Servings 2 people

Ingredients

  

• 1 Octopus (source from a local fishmonger)
• 2 Large potatoes
• 1 Courgette
• 2 Garlic cloves crushed
• 1 Onion finely chopped
• Paprika
• Smoked paprika
• Cayenne pepper
• Chilli powder
• Oregano
• 500 ml Chicken or vegetable stock
• Tomato purée
• Olive oil
• Fresh parsley
• White wine optional

Instructions

 

• First, prepare the octopus. See link above to a video showing an easy method. Preheat the oven to 120C.
• Bring a pan full of water to the boil and dip the octopus in for 3 minutes. This tenderises it and also curls it up, making for better presentation. Drain the octopus and place in a casserole pan.
• In a casserole pan, surround the octopus with the onion, one crushed garlic clove, a tablespoon each of the spices and oregano and plenty of salt and pepper. Top up with chicken or vegetable stock and braise in the oven for around 2 hours or until a knife will easily cut through the octopus.
• Towards the end half hour of the cooking time, dice the courgette, toss with olive oil and roast in a dish in the oven alongside the octopus.
• In the meantime, make the patatas bravas. Cut the potatoes into bite sized chunks, and fry on a medium heat in a good glug of olive oil until soft and starting to brown- this will take around 10 minutes. Stir in the rest of the crushed garlic and fry for one minute. Add two tablespoons of tomato purée, a tablespoon each of the three spices and 100ml of white wine. Simmer for a few minutes until the liquid has been absorbed and take off the heat .
• When the octopus is done, put a griddle pan on a high heat or heat the grill to high. Cut the octopus up into desired portions, toss with a little olive oil and chopped parsley. Fry or grill until crisp.
• For the parsley oil, very finely chop fresh parsley and mix with a tablespoon of olive oil.
• To serve: Plate a portion of patatas bravas, top with the octopus, dot around the parsley oil and courgettes .

Keyword Octopus, Potatoes, Seafood, Spanish