Last week, at the farmer’s market, I arrived early so that I wouldn’t miss out on the fish. While all the other stands usually have more than plenty to sell throughout the day, the fish stand comes in from the coast with the day’s catch. You never know what he’ll have but one thing is certain: it all sells out before noon.
I was lucky enough to snap up the last of the octopi. (Octopuses?) They weren’t that big, so I figured I would buy all that was left: five smallish ones. I kind of had half a mind to make some sort of seafood salad, but was also tempted to grill them, since the sun was shining and it was warm on our terrace. Sophie though, was insisting on pasta.
For advice, and to act as referee in our decision making process, I turned to the Signora who works at the stand. Her face lit up. “Pasta certamente!” . Well, ok, Sophie won this round. But having never really made pasta with octopus, I asked the Signora for advice.
“It’s easy! ” she began to explain, ” After you finish beating the octopus, you cut them up and…”
Wait, what?
I’m usually pretty good at understanding any kind of Italian dialect, especially when it comes to recipes. But at that point I turned to Sophie and asked her if she had also heard what I heard? “We have to beat them first? Don’t they come ready to go?”
When we are in Bari I’m very used to seeing the fishermen come in with their catch, and bang their octopi into submission. Unless you tenderize them forcefully, they will never soften as you cook them. The only other option is to freeze them first, which accomplishes the same thing, but then, well, you’ve lost the incredible taste of fresh octopus.
As it turns out, I guess most of the octopus that I had previously bought in Rome had been frozen into submission. But this octopus was so fresh (caught the day before) that it hadn’t yet been either frozen or beaten.
Seeing my dismay, the Signora took pity on me. “Don’t worry, I”ll do it for you. No problem!”
And while she beat away at it with a wooden hammer (which she looked like she was enjoying a bit too much) she continued on with her recipe.
Which, as you can see, is beyond simple. Once you get the beating out of the way.
pasta with octopus
Prep
Cook
Total
Yield 5
Ingredients
- 1/2 kilo / 1 pound pasta (I used Rustichella Cresta di Gallo, which I think kind of looks like little pieces of octopus)
- 700 grams / 1/1/2 pounds octopus
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 cup white wine
- a couple of handfuls of chopped parsley
- pecorino romano, grated
Instructions
- Make sure your octopus has been tenderized. If it’s been frozen, then you’re in good shape.
- Cut the octopus up into 1 inch pieces.
- Pour the olive oil into a pan that is big enough to eventually hold all the pasta. Add garlic and heat gently, until the garlic is fragrant. Add the octopus, stir and cook for about 5 minutes, then add the white wine. Let it boil away, cover the pan and cook until the octopus is tender. This will probably take between 45 minutes and an hour. If it seems like it is drying out, you can add a bit more wine, or water. If you'd like to add a couple of peeled tomatoes, that works to. I prefer my seafood pasta 'in bianco.'
- Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente. Drain, reserving a cup of the pasta cooking water.
- Add the drained pasta to the pot with the octopus, stirring and heating through, while adding as much of the reserved water as you need to keep it moist. Add the parsley and stir.
- Serve topped with a dusting of grated pecorino romano. The Signora was very insistent on this point, which she says makes the dish very Roman. I liked it both ways.
Sounds so yummy! Which market did you go to?
The Farmer’s Market on Via San Teordoro, near Circo Massimo.
Serendipity! I made this exact dish for lunch today with leftovers of the octopi (?!) that my Honey had prepared for antipasti. Happily, they had been frozen first so no beating was involved. 🙂
I’m willing to bet the beating serves as a great outlet for stress relief :)) I usually throw a wine cork into the pot (who knows if that actually works?), it could be that after 45 minutes the octopus becomes tender all on its own, despite beatings, corks and prayers. The pasta looks simply delicious.
From what I understand the cooking does not tenderize it, it must be beaten or frozen first.
wrong, cooking does tenderize..the beating is romantic b.s.
Wrong. The octopus always has to be tenderized before hand. Freezing does this, and since most of the world eats frozen octopus it is already tenderized by being frozen. However if you are eating fresh octopus (and this is only possible if you are eating it within 24 hours of it being caught) it must be tenderized. You can do this by beating it, shaking it in a basket or, as is done in Greece, drying it in the sun.
Where do you buy fish at? There are so many little ones I am not sure which one to go to
Thanks
Jeanne
I’ve started buying fish at the Farmer’s Market on Via San Teodoro. I also go to the fish store on Via Genoa, off of Via Palermo. There actually aren’t that many fish stores left in the center of Rome since the supermarkets (where I would never buy fish) are forcing them out.
I was going to write: “I kind of had half a mind…” is this the Italian “avevo una mezza idea…” gently creeping into your posts??? LOL…gotcha!
But I am still recovering from the Pecorino over the mollusc!
NO WAY…!!!
Are you sure the signora is really Italian? I would have asked for her ID after such statement.
ciao
“I had half a mind..” is definitely an American phrase! Although, I do find Italianisms creeping in all the time to my writing. Sprinkling pecorino onto fish pasta is a very Roman thing to do, but only certain dishes like this one. Never, for instance, with vongole (clams).
If you use fresh baby octopi, which is what I usually buy for grilling, do you still have to beat them? I never have in the past, but what do you think with this recipe?
Yes, they always have to be tenderized. When they are little, they take less time. The way that they do it in Bari is to place them in a basket and shake them back and forth. They start to give off a kind of foam, and curl up a bit. If you take a look at my Bari Fish Market Videos, you can see them doing this. But I”m almost 100% sure that the small octopus you are buying have already been frozen, then thawed out, so are ready to go.
Do you ever add anchovies to the olive oil and garlic?
No, never. The octopus is naturally quite fishy and salty, so no need.
Hi…although the idea of beating octopus is romantic, it is unecessary…i cook octopus regularly. All it needs is about an hour at slow braisr. It melts in your mouth. Not tough in the slightest.perhaps if you ate going directly to thr grill, it may help….
Chances are that the octopus you are referring to has been frozen, in which case you don’t have to beat it.The freezing takes care of that. But when you are buying the octopus fresh, right off the boat, or fishing it yourself then yes, it must be beaten. Or frozen.
I hope I can add to this authentic recipe which is the closest thing I have found to a meal my wife and I had while on the Greek island of Naxos. While snorkeling, we met a couple, Manolis and Mary, who were spear fishing octopus. They graciously invited us to their home for an octopus dinner but not before Manolis showed us how to tenderize the octopi by throwing it against a rock about 50 times! He then scrubbed it against the rock like he was hand washing a shirt. This created a white froth which he said removed a slimy protective layer from the octopus. He did mention that freezing additionally tenderizes the meat but nothing beats fresh caught.
At their home, Manolis grilled half while Mary prepared the other half inside. The recipe here is nearly exact but Mary added diced onion and tomatoes to the oil and garlic before adding the octopus and white wine. Lastly she added ditalini noodles, topped with Romano and served with fresh warm bread. The grilled portion was a bit chewy, the noodle dish was supremely tender, but both were the best meal of the trip. We’ll never fully recreate their work but this recipe is as close as we will get!
That sounds like a magical meal!!