pulpo a la gallega

it’s friday! and making tapas certainly counts for a fiesta.

this is our first time cooking octopus. it definitely looks daunting since we’ve never handled such whole creatures before. but after having spanish tapas recently, we were inspired by the simplicity of the technique and flavors. so we ventured to our nearest wet market and grabbed the smallest octopus we could find. after a few more tries, we may be ready to tackle the 10 pounders.

octopus 1 lb
potato 1 medium
paprika 1 tsp
salt 1 tsp
olive oil 2 tbsp
lemon juice 1 tbsp

• in a pot of salted boiling water, toss in the whole octopus and boil until soft on medium heat. for our 1 lb octopus, it took about 45 min (soft = you can insert a knife into the meat like butter)
• strain and rinse under cold water
• remove the head and cut the octopus into bite size pieces
• place the octopus pieces in a bowl, add salt, paprika,  and olive oil. mix evenly and set aside
• thinly slice the potato
• bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook the potato on medium heat until tender
• strain the water and place a layer of potatoes on a plate
• top them with the octopus pieces
• drizzle with lemon juice, top with more salt if necessary

little octopus bought fresh from the wet market

cooked until tender

drizzle with olive oil, dust with paprika, and sprinkle with salt

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