Chargrilled Octopus and Romesco

Serves: 4

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 5 hours

Difficulty: Medium

Ingredients

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1kg octopus, raw and cleaned

EVOO

Salt

2 tsp oregano

Romesco

3 whole capsicums, roasted, skin removed (or jar capsicums that have been roasted if you want to save some time)

¾ cup almonds

¼ cup olive oil

¼ cup sundried tomatoes

6 garlic cloves

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp chilli flakes

1 tsp red wine vinegar

½ lemon, juice (may require more to help balance)

¼ cup chopped parsley

Salt

Method

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1. For the octopus, rinse under cold water removing excess slime. Separate the tentacles into sous vide bags (or sandwich bags). I put three tentacles per bag. Season with olive oil, salt and oregano. I would also double bag these to be safe (so the bag doesn’t split). Place into the sous vide for 79 degrees for 5 hours.

2. For the romesco, cut capsicum in half, remove seeds and roast open side down in a fan forced oven at 220 degrees with EVOO and salt. Roast until charred on all sides, about 25 minutes. Alternatively roast on open flame on gas cooktop.

3. Remove skin, place in bowl and cover with cling film until ready. Remove the charred skin.

4. Place all ingredients except EVOO into food processor and pulse until combined. Stream in the EVOO until you’ve achieved desired consistency. You can keep it thick or pulse more until smooth. You may need to add more olive oil as well.

5. Taste and adjust with lemon juice and salt, you can also add more chilli flakes.

6. To finish octopus, drain from sous vide. Place onto heated BBQ or coal grill for 2-3 minutes until charred. Remove.

7. To serve, place romesco in bottom of bowl. Top with octopus, parsley, spinach leaves, toasted almond slivers and extra olive oil.