Braised polipetti (baby octopus) is one of my hands down, all-time favorite dishes. As the octopi stew, they release much of their water content, which melds with the tomatoes and red wine to yield a slightly briny, rich and thick sauce that is nothing short of lick-the-bowl-clean delicious.
Octopus can be tricky to prepare. Cook it too short, octopus will be rubbery and give your jaw an unpleasant workout; cook octopus too long, it loses its al dente chew. A slow, gentle braise of octopus on the stove-top strikes that sweet spot. Essentially a one-pot stew that simmers low and slow for about forty minutes until the octopi are perfectly tender. Sometimes, I’ll add a handful of baby spinach to the sauce towards the end of cooking.
I served my braised octopus with squid ink spaghetti that I made using a chitarra. You can read more about spaghetti alla chitarra here. I added 1 teaspoon of cuttlefish ink for every 100 grams of flour (and 1 egg) per serving.
I like to finish the dish with a sprinkling of homemade breadcrumbs for added texture and chopped parsley.
A little bit of Italy right here at home. Perfect/Perfetto!
Braised Baby Octopus
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 medium white onion, diced
- 4 cloves of garlic, minced
- 4 tbsp parsley, chopped, divided
- 1/4 cup dry red wine
- 2 pounds baby octopus
- 1 cup tomato passata/puree
- pinch of chile flakes
- sea salt
- 1 pound spaghetti alla chitarra for serving
- toasted bread crumbs for serving
Instructions
- In a deep sauté pan or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium-low heat. Add the onion, garlic and half of the parsley. Cook until the onion is translucent, about 5-7 minutes. Increase the heat to high, add the wine. Cook until the wine has evaporated. Lower the heat and add the octopus. Let the octopus simmer for 5-7 minutes.
- Add the tomato passata and chili flakes, and cover the pan with a lid. Simmer over medium-low heat for 35-40 minutes or until the octopus is fork-tender. Taste and season with salt as needed. Sprinkle with the rest of the chopped parsley.
- Serve with spaghetti alla chitarra. Sprinkle with toasted breadcrumbs if desired.