Octopus with Red Wine Sauce and Skordalia
Tender confit octopus, charred hard and served on garlicky skordalia with a spiced red wine sauce. A restaurant favourite you can make at home.
- Prep
- 30 min
- Cook
- 1 hr 30 min
- Total
- 2 hrs
- Serves
- 4
- Level
- Weekend project
The secret to tender octopus is low, slow heat followed by a very hot pan. In the kitchen we confit the tentacles in oil at 120°C, then char them to order so the outside is smoky and crisp and the inside soft.
The red wine sauce sounds unusual with seafood, but the warm spice and acidity make it work, and the skordalia brings garlic and comfort.
Ingredients
Octopus
Red wine sauce
Skordalia
Method
Octopus
- Cut the octopus into individual tentacles. If it hasn’t been tenderised, give each tentacle a few firm whacks with a meat mallet.
- Put the oil, garlic and herbs in a heavy pot and heat to 120°C on a thermometer.
- Lower in the tentacles and cook for 15–20 minutes, then check every 5 minutes until a finger presses easily into the thickest part. Larger octopus can take up to an hour.
- Lift out and cool. The tentacles can be refrigerated for 2 days at this point.
Red wine sauce
- Sauté the shallot and garlic in a splash of oil until soft. Add the tomato paste and cook until fragrant, then the herbs and spices for 1 minute.
- Add the wine and vinegar and bring to the boil, then add the fish stock and simmer until reduced to about 250 ml.
- Remove the herbs and blend smooth with the olive oil. Season and keep warm.
Skordalia
- Boil the potatoes in salted water until very tender. Drain and steam dry.
- Pound or blend the garlic and almonds with the lemon juice and vinegar to a paste.
- Push the potatoes through a ricer, then beat in the garlic paste and slowly beat in the olive oil until smooth and loose. Season well.
To finish
- Get a heavy pan or barbecue very hot. Brush the tentacles with a little of their oil and char for 2–3 minutes a side until blistered.
- Spread skordalia on warm plates, top with octopus and spoon red wine sauce around.
Chef’s notes
- Freezing octopus before cooking breaks down the muscle fibres, so frozen is better than fresh here.
- Don’t cook more than one octopus at a time in the oil, or the temperature drops too far.
- Strain and keep the confit oil. It’s brilliant for roasting potatoes.
Questions about this recipe
How do you make octopus tender?
Freeze it first, then cook it slowly, either confited in oil at about 120°C or simmered gently, until a finger presses easily into the flesh. Then char it quickly over high heat.
What is skordalia?
Skordalia is a Greek garlic purée made from potato or bread, olive oil, lemon and nuts. It’s a classic partner for seafood.
