Pulpo al Olivo

Cook Time 15 minutes (+ overnight marination)

Servings 4

Ingredients

1kg baby octopus (headless)

Marinade
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
Juice of 2 lemons
1 long red chilli, roughly chopped
2 sprigs of fresh oregano, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, smashed

Pulpo salsa
1 cup pitted olives, quartered
2 shallots, finely diced
1-2 tbsp rocoto paste (Peruvian chilli paste, available online or at specialty delis)
100ml extra virgin olive oil
3 spring onions, finely sliced
½ cup roasted capsicum (from a jar is fine), finely diced
Salt to taste

Method

For the marinade place all ingredients in a blender and pulse a few times until combined.

To make the Pulpo salsa, place all the ingredients together in a bowl and mix together. Set aside.

Place the octopus and the marinade in a bowl, massage the marinade into the octopus, then cover the bowl with cling wrap and place in the fridge for a few hours or overnight.

Bring the octopus to room temperature before cooking. Heat a griddle pan on high heat, then take the octopus out of the marinade and place on the hot pan. It’s important that the grill is very hot so the octopus gets nice and charred.

Start with the suckers down for 2-3 minutes then turn and grill for another 3 minutes the other side. It needs to be tender and not chewy. Sprinkle with salt to taste.

Place a generous amount of salsa on the serving plate, add the freshly grilled octopus on top and serve.