Croatian Cooking: Octopus Salad Recipe

Hard to find a better starter than the octopus salad! A great summer starter enjoyed seaside in Croatia up and down the coast. There are many variants of the dish and depending on your tastes you can add a number of things to it and it still works. Such a simple thing to make if you can get your hands on some octopus…

What you will need:

• ½ – 1kg octopus – cleaned
• 2 bay leaves
• olive oil, salt and pepper
• red wine vinegar
• 1 onion
• 2 potatoes
• parsley
• 1 wine cork
• lemon wedges

Preparation:

• In a large pot cover generously with water the octopus and bay leaves. Add salt and pepper and the wine cork (which helps tenderise the octopus) to the water and bring to the boil.
• Reduce the heat and simmer until tender (around 20 minutes or so).
• In another pot boil the potatoes. Once they are done cut them into small cubes.
• Drain the octopus and clean the head. Cut the meat of the octopus into small pieces.
• Add the potatoes with the octopus and finely chop an onion and add.
• Dress the salad with olive oil red win vinegar, salt, pepper and parsley. Finish will a lemon wedge as garnish.

Enjoy!