Spicy Baby Octopus Sauce + Pasta

The inspiration for this dinner came from this Serious Eats recipe.  Mine probably turned out different as I didn't have the bucatini, parsley, or the chilies. Instead I used a whole wheat linguine, crushed red pepper, and a can of diced tomatoes with chilies.  I also didn't have the cherry tomatoes.  I'll have to try this again with the cherry tomatoes as the sauce had a lot of liquid.  Despite missing a few of the ingredients, the dish turned out really well!  The octopus was quite tender and flavorful.  I may use a little less pasta next time so I can enjoy the sauce more, but overall I recommend trying this!

Now you may wonder, "Why octopus???"  Honestly, I chose it because I wanted the challenge and it just seemed like it would be funny to have little tentacles and pasta all in one wriggly dish.  Finding the octopus was a challenge.  None of the grocery stores with a seafood counter carried it.  One store's website claimed they did, but the counter guys were bewildered as to why I would think they'd have something like octopus.  We accidentally found a seafood market that sold octopus, but only full sized, and only in 5 pound chunks.  I also could not tell where the octopus came from.  Finally we found Antonio's.  They sold baby octopus in 2 pound blocks, which was still more than I needed by half a pound, but I figured a half pound overage was easier to work with than a 3 1/2 pound overage.  Antonio was very helpful with advice on how to prep the octopus for cooking, and was able to tell me where the octopus itself had been caught!

A word of advice: the prep time on this is longer than the original recipe indicates (actually the original recipe has no prep time mentioned at all).  You may want to get started on the prep early in the day, or do this on a weekend.  Cutting up two pounds of octopus takes a little bit of time, and this doesn't even take possible thawing into consideration in the event your octopus is frozen.

Spicy Baby Octopus Sauce + Pasta

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs of baby octopus
• 1 can of diced tomatoes with chilies (should  be around 15 oz)
• 1 medium sized tomato, diced
• 2 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 3 tsp black pepper (I used the bourbon barrel black pepper)
• 1 tbsp crushed red pepper
• 2 cloves of garlic, sliced thinly
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 8 1/2 oz of whole wheat linguine (rough estimate, I didn't measure this part, adjust as necessary)

Prep:

1. Rinse the octopus and cut into 2 inch pieces.
2. Marinate the octopus in milk for 45 minutes.  This will act as a tenderizer.
3. While the octopus is marinating, slice the garlic and tomato.
4. When the octopus is ready, drain the milk, and lightly rinse the octopus.

Directions:

1. Add the olive oil and sliced garlic to a large pot. Heat on low to medium low until the garlic is lightly browned.
2. Add the tomatoes, octopus, and seasoning to the pot. Bring the mixture to a gentle boil (medium high heat), and then reduce to a simmer.
3. Allow the sauce to simmer partially covered for 20 minutes.  Stir occasionally.
4. Remove the cover, and cook over medium high heat to for around 7 minutes to thicken the sauce.
5. While the sauce is finishing, prepare the pasta according to the directions.
6. Once the sauce has thickened a bit (or when 7 minutes is up), remove from heat.
7. Drain the pasta and add to the pot with the sauce.  Toss until the pasta is well covered in the sauce.

Serves 4 to 6.