Octopus is not a very common ingredient to prepare in the Belgian cuisine. Fresh or frozen octopus needs to be tender, if not, it’s not tasty. For 3p buy, approx a piece of 1 kilo. Put the clean, whole octopus in a large pan filled with water, 200 ml of white wine, a few bay leaves, 2 stems of celery, 1 chopped carrot and a pinch of salt. Boil the octopus for 40-60 mins until tender. Drain the octopus. The liquid is commonly thrown away. The weight after the cooking reduced almost to 50 %! Chop the octopus and store in the fridge.
Make a tomato ragù sauce with fried chopped onion, garlic, carrot, celery and peperoncini and 2 cans of good quality tomatoes. Add 2 salted anchovies, 1 table spoon of unsalted capres and a few chopped black olives. Allow to simmer for 20-30 mins. Add the octopus during the last 5 mins. Boiled farro, fresh parsley and a rocket salad make this easy recipe complete. Buon appetito!
Doc V's Healthy Kitchen 