Salada de Polvo — Portuguese Octopus Salad

Tender octopus dressed with olive oil, vinegar, onion, peppers and coriander, served cold.

TIME BREAKDOWN
Prep: 20 min
Cook: 1h 15m
Total: 1 hour 35 minutes
Vegetarian
❌
Nuts
❌
Serves
6 people
Difficulty
Medium

Ingredients

  • 1kg frozen octopus, defrosted and cleaned (from fishmongers or larger supermarkets)
  • 1 onion, halved
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 small red onion, finely sliced
  • 1 red pepper, finely diced
  • 1 green pepper, finely diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 1 small bunch fresh coriander, chopped
  • 5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
  • Salt and black pepper to taste
  • 2 hard-boiled eggs, quartered (optional)

Method

  1. Put the octopus, halved onion and bay leaf in a large pan, cover with water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes until a knife slides easily into the thickest part of the tentacles. There is no need to add salt.

  2. Leave the octopus to cool in its liquid for 20 minutes, then drain and cut into bite-size pieces.

  3. Mix the red onion, peppers, garlic and coriander in a large bowl.

  4. Add the octopus, olive oil and vinegar, season with salt and pepper and toss gently.

  5. Chill for at least 1 hour so the flavours can mingle, then serve cold with the eggs, if using.