Many people snob musky octopuses, considering them a low quality food
ingredients for 4 servings (cost about 3 € pp)
- salt
- 1 kg musky octopuses
- 2 garlic cloves
- 15 gr capers
- 500 ml tomato purée
- 50 ml white wine
- 1/2 chilli pepper
- 1 bay leaf
- 10 pepper corns
- EV olive oil
- 500 gr very small round potatoes
- 100 gr fresh chervil plus for garnishing
Before the second world war, when the seas were still full of fish and seafood, the musky octopuses were considered as a second class food and they were used only for conserves. Yes, it is true that the musky octopuses are much harder and less tastier than the common ones, but they are very cheap and also very attractive. Here, in Greece, they cost about 7 Euros per kilo, meanwhile in Naples and southern Italy are still cheaper.
Having found very fresh musky octopuses I decided to prepare a second course alternative of the fishy Christmas eve dinner.
So, first of all we wash and clean the musky octopuses, discarding their head and internal parts. We put them in one litre of water along with the wine, the bay leaf, the chilli pepper and the pepper corns and we let them simmer for about an hour, till almost ready. 5 minutes before the end we add the chervil. We remove the musky octopuses and we drain well the other parts, keeping the stock.
Meanwhile we put the cappers to soak in cold water, in order to remove their excessive saltiness and we peel the small round potatoes. In a skillet we put just a tbsp of olive oil and we brown the potatoes externally for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Attention: We just want to create a light crust to the potatoes and not to burn them.
In a casserole we add some olive oil and the garlic clove. We bring to heat and when the garlic clove becomes pale we discard it and we add the tomato purée, the stock, the musky octopuses and the potatoes.
We let them simmer till tender. 10 minutes before end we add the cappers. We check the saltiness, we add some more olive oil, if required and we serve, garnishing with fresh chervil.
