Recipes Claudia

Recipe Spaghetti Alla Genovese with Octopus in Vietri Ceramic

Recipe of Spaghetti with Genovese sauce of octopus in Vietri ceramic
Recipe of Spaghetti with Genovese sauce of octopus in Vietri ceramic
My recipe ...
My Spaghetto alla Genovese di Polpo, is a contamination of the classic recipe of the "Genovese", where we transgress the tradition, which wants meat, to substitute it with an excellent octopus.

... my tips:
A good dish is obtained using good ingredients and a lot, but a lot of love.
Always use, therefore, a good, rough pasta that is well cooked (possibly from Gragnano DOP), good onions (preferably from Tropea DOP), excellent extra virgin olive oil and an excellent "true" octopus.
The choice of the octopus is fundamental (as well as the cooking) and that is why in this case I use the same procedure and the advice that I would use to prepare the Neapolitan octopus salad.
Fresh octopus
In Naples, the true octopus is used, which is the one that lives near the rocks. The choice of this particular species of mollusk is essential to obtain an excellent dish. Let's see the characteristics that the true octopus must have:
Dark and intense color tending between brown and orange. Here, too, a distinction must be made between the species of the male with the most valuable meat compared to the female species of the mollusk. Choose a true male octopus that has the finest meats. It is recognized by its tentacles which have two rows of symmetrical suckers, while in the female octopus the rows of suckers are asymmetrical.
To understand that an octopus is fresh it must be firm and not mushy.
Frozen octopus
Not everyone can find fresh octopus and therefore are forced to prepare frozen octopus salad. Also in this case try to choose a real large octopus to be thawed at room temperature and not under running water. So even if it's frozen, take it out of the freezer the night before and let it thaw slowly. This will allow the fibers not to flake off during cooking.
How to make it softer:
Let's dispel the myth that is to beat the octopus to make it more tender. This operation must be carried out immediately after having fished it, when the octopus is still alive, to stretch the fibers inside the tentacles. If it is not "alive", then, there is no point in taking an octopus and whipping it to make it more tender.
Instead, if you want to make it more tender, just clean it when fresh and place it in a food bag for 24 hours in the freezer. During the freezing phase, the octopus fibers will swell and then break and stretch during the thawing phase.

Ingredients for 4 people:
320 gr of Spaghettoni (or spaghetti) from Gragnano Dop
1 "true" octopus of about 1 kg fresh or thawed
3 - 4 large onions (possibly from Tropea)
1/2 glass of white wine
80 gr of Extra Virgin Olive Oil Dop
Basil and parsley to taste
Coarse salt to taste (preferably Sicilian Integral Marine)
Pepper or chilli to taste (if you like)

Preparation: (Preparation time: about 30 + 120 minutes):
Octopus cooking
If the octopus is frozen, take it out of the freezer the night before and let it thaw slowly out of the fridge.
Clean the octopus by first removing its mouth with a knife or kitchen scissors. In the same way, remove your eyes and give them a first rinse. Now insert two fingers inside the head and remove the entrails and the ink blister. Wash the octopus thoroughly, also paying attention to possible residues present in the suction cups.
Bring a pot half full of lightly salted water to a boil (do not overdo it with salt because the octopus will release part of its salted water and then because you can always add it).
As soon as the water boils, grab the octopus by the head and lower it completely into the boiling water and withdraw it 3-4 times until it is completely enriched. This is a "traditional" method to make octopus even more tender (fresh or frozen).
Then let it go into the water and proceed to cooking by lowering the heat to the minimum as the water must simmer.
The cooking time of the fresh octopus is about 30-40 minutes (about 20 minutes every 1/2 kg), then remove it from the water and let it cool at room temperature before cutting it into small pieces.
For perfect cooking, pierce the octopus with a fork after 30 minutes. If the fork is easily removed from the octopus tentacle it means that it is cooked to perfection.
A tip: prefer cooking the octopus "al dente" that is 10 minutes before perfect cooking, because another 10 minutes will then have to cook together with the onions
Keep the octopus cooking broth aside, it will serve to give the onions a taste of sea.
Cooking onions
Clean the onions. Cut them as thin as possible and place them in a cola pasta and wash them under running water. Place them still wet in a large non-stick pan with a thick bottom.
With the lid on, let them dry, then remove them from the heat and pour all the water that you have expelled (this serves to make them sweeter, more digestible and to lose part of their typical smell).
Repeat the operation keeping them on the fire for another 10 minutes and then pour them again.
Drain well, put them back into the pan, add the Extra Virgin oil, a few basil leaves and 2 ladles of octopus cooking broth. Let them cook for at least 2 hours and in any case until they are completely wilted until they become a cream, taking care to turn them from time to time and possibly add more octopus cooking broth.
... it's time to prepare the Genovese di Polpo sauce and cook the pasta
Cook the pasta in abundant salted water. Meanwhile, add the octopus to the onions (cut into small pieces + a few small tentacles left whole for garnish) and let it cook together with the onions while the pasta is cooking. Taste and possibly season with salt.
Drain the pasta al dente and stir in the onion and octopus. Serve with a little chopped parsley and freshly ground pepper (if you like) or a little chilli.
Meanwhile, cook the pasta in abundant salted water and, once cooked, drain the pasta and add it to the sauce.
Stir everything in a pan, over high heat, adding the Parmesan and pecorino and add the pepper (if you prefer).

... and then Buon Appetito with my Spaghettone alla Genovese di Polpo, which if served in the colorful dishes of CeramicaVietrese.it will certainly be even better, but also more beautiful to look at !!!