Octopus with Ripe Plantain Purée
Octopus simmered until tender, marinated in white wine with garlic and thyme, then seared for two minutes and served on a ripe plantain purée with parmesan. Serves four.
Servings: 4
Calories: 305kcal
Ingredients
- 1 small octopus frozen and thawed if you can; freezing breaks the fibres and it comes out more tender
- 100 ml white wine
- Spices to taste
- 1 teaspoon thyme
- 3 garlic cloves finely chopped
- Salt and pepper
- 2 or 3 ripe plantains the blacker the skin, the sweeter the purée
- 1 tablespoon butter
- A splash of milk
- 40 g Parmesan cheese
- 1 teaspoon sugar
Instructions
- In a pot of water, boil the plantains, cut in half, until tender.
- Meanwhile, wash the octopus thoroughly and rub any grit off the tentacles. Once it is clean, separate the tentacles.
- Cook the octopus before anything else: bring a large pot of unsalted water to the boil, lower the octopus in and out three times for a few seconds each, then leave it to simmer. Allow roughly 15 to 20 minutes per kilo, and from 20 minutes onwards test the thickest part of a tentacle with a skewer: it should go in with a little resistance still, not slide through. Take the pot off the heat and let it sit in its own water, covered, for another 15 minutes.
- Lay the cooked tentacles on a flat surface and tap them gently with the blunt side of a knife to loosen the fibres.
- Put the tentacles in a bowl with the white wine, the spices you like, the thyme, the garlic, salt and pepper. Mix and leave to marinate for at least 20 to 30 minutes.
- Once the plantains are done, take them off the heat, peel them and mash them in a bowl. Add the butter, the milk, the parmesan and the sugar. Mix well and taste.
- After marinating, sear the octopus in a pan with a little oil for 2 minutes, just to colour it. It is already cooked, so this is only for the outside.
- To serve, spoon the purée onto the plate first and arrange the tentacles on top.
- Serve straight away.
Notes
Octopus is almost entirely collagen, and collagen only softens with time in hot water. There is no shortcut: an octopus that goes into a hot pan raw comes out of it rubbery, and nothing done afterwards will rescue it.
Buy it frozen, or freeze it for a couple of days before cooking. The ice crystals break the fibres and the difference in tenderness is easy to taste.
Do not salt the cooking water. Salt tightens the skin and it tends to come away in strips.
This is not the traditional Galician dish, which is boiled octopus on sliced potato with pimenton, coarse salt and olive oil. This is the Colombian reading of it, with plantain in place of the potato.
Nutrition
Calories: 305kcal | Carbohydrates: 35g | Protein: 22g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 70mg | Sodium: 1039mg | Potassium: 907mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 16g | Vitamin A: 1397IU | Vitamin C: 24mg | Calcium: 212mg | Iron: 7mg