I buy already cooked vacuum-packed octopus tentacles. It’s enough to cook them lightly on a grill or in a skillet. Pay particular attention if you live far from the sea. There are also some very good options in the frozen foods section. I keep them in the freezer and take them out in the morning at breakfast so they’re defrosted for the evening, just as I’m craving a Mediterranean dinner with a bottle of dry white.

If you have raw octopus, you first need to boil it whole until it’s soft, about 1-2 hours.

This dish is perfect with baby potatoes and fresh spinach, but you can also use regular potatoes and frozen spinach.

OCTOPUS WITH BABY POTATOES AND SPINACH

Recipe

PREP TIME	COOK TIME	MAKES
7 minutes	40 minutes	2 servings

INGREDIENTS (serves 2)

3-4 cooked octopus tentacles
8-10 baby potatoes
2 large bunches of spinach
2 cloves garlic
3 tbsp cashews (50 g)
⅓ chili pepper
100 ml cream (20-30% fat)
40 ml dry white wine
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
Black pepper
Salt

INSTRUCTIONS

Sort the spinach, tear off the leaves, pour cold water in a large bowl, rinse well to remove any sand, and dry in a colander. Peel the baby potatoes. Scrape them with a knife or rub with a brush or the hard side of a sponge. Or you can just wash the potatoes and not peel them at all.

2. Cover the potatoes with water in a pot. Bring to a boil, add ½ tsp salt and simmer until tender. Check readiness with a toothpick.

3. Slice the garlic and chili thinly.

4. Cut the octopus tentacles into small pieces. Drain and dry the potatoes.

5. Heat 2 tbsp of olive oil in a skillet and add butter. Add the potatoes and fry until golden. Add the octopus pieces. Stir.

6. Add the cashews and garlic. Fry over low heat for 1-2 minutes. Make sure the garlic doesn’t burn. Lightly salt and pour in the wine. Increase the heat to high to evaporate the wine. It takes about a minute.

Don’t worry, all the alcohol will evaporate, but it will leave us with the necessary tartness.

7. Pour in the cream, bring to a boil, and add the spinach. Add the spinach in batches and stir if it doesn’t fit in the pan all at once. Add the chili peppers, stir, lightly salt and pepper again. Remove from the heat as soon as the spinach is bright green.

Bon Appetit!

Don’t forget to serve white dry wine with your Mediterranean dinner!