KATKAT'S KITCHEN

  Octopus, chorizo sausage and oregano with orange,   nasturtium and herb salad is a rich but delicate dish perfect for a Spring lunch

In Spain we have the most wonderful octopus and fresh chorizo and together they are a taste made in heaven. I will grant you that fresh octopus is not the most exciting thing in the world, and if is cooked wrong then it is awful – rubbery and hard. However this recipe calls for the octopus to be boiled first and then it is very very quick to assemble. The article below shows what an intelligent animal it is as well. This recipe was adapted from a recipe from the BBC.

Baby toys.. for an Octopus? | Marine Biology
The article I found was pretty interesting to me because it was talking about how an octopus is able to learn how to figure out simple mazes, figure out how to.
http://blogs.cordovasd.org/marinebio/

Ingredients for Octopus, chorizo sausage and oregano with orange, nasturtium and herb salad

For the octopus
1 octopus, about 1.75kg – 2kg/4lb - 4lb 8oz
1 tablespoon sea salt flakes
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
250g/8oz cooking chorizo sausage, cubed
5 spring onions, sliced
1 handful fresh oregano leaves
For the orange, nasturtium and herb salad
2 Spanish oranges, segments only
1 handful mint leaves
1 handful oregano leaves
15 unpitted  Kalamata olives
5 spring onions, sliced
nasturtium flowers or orange pansies
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ lemon, juice only
1 teaspoon  sesame seeds

Method for Octopus, chorizo sausage and oregano with orange, nasturtium and herb salad

For the octopus, bring a large saucepan of water to the boil. Beat the tentacles lightly with a meat mallet to tenderise then peel the skin away. Cut the head from the body, just below the eyes. Remove the beak from the centre of the tentacles by turning it inside out and pushing the beak through.

Add the salt to the boiling water then dunk the octopus three times in the boiling water. Add the vinegar then return the octopus to the pan and simmer for one hour. ( Cooks tip Dunking the octopus makes sure that the tentacles don’t seize during cooking and become hard and chewy. The key is to cook the octopus very slowly in simmering water; the vinegar helps tenderise the octopus.Dunking also stops the tentacles from curling)

Cut the tentacles into small chunks. Heat a frying pan until hot, add the chorizo and cook for few minutes until crisp. Add the spring onions and octopus pieces, along with the oregano leaves, and cook all together for further two minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside.

For the salad, combine the orange segments, herbs, olives and  spring onions. Scatter with the flowers, drizzle with the olive oil and lemon juice then add the sesame seeds and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Serve with the octopus and chorizo.

Octopus, chorizo sausage and oregano with orange, nasturtium and herb salad, tenderising tips

If you have struggled to make octopus that is not rubbery buy from frozen as the action of freezing tenderises it. Then dont forget to dunk it in the boiling water.