Polvo à Lagareiro

Roast Octopus with Olive Oil, Garlic and Crushed Potatoes

Octopus is boiled until tender, then roasted until its edges crisp, with small potatoes baked in their skins and given a thump so they split. The whole thing is then drowned in hot olive oil and garlic. There is a lot of oil. That is the point of the dish, and the bread is there to deal with it.

Both Portuguese recipes read for this version treat the dish the same way: the octopus is simmered with onion and bay, the potatoes are baked in coarse salt and crushed with a blow of the hand, which is what batatas a murro means, and everything meets in the oven under olive oil and garlic.

Ingredients

For the octopus

  • 1 octopus, about 1.5 kg, cleaned (frozen and fully defrosted is fine)
  • 1 onion, peeled and halved
  • 1 bay leaf

For the potatoes and to finish

  • 800 g small waxy potatoes, scrubbed, skins on
  • 2 tbsp coarse sea salt
  • 200 ml olive oil
  • 6 garlic cloves, lightly crushed with the flat of a knife
  • A small handful of parsley or coriander, chopped
  • Black pepper

Method

  1. Simmer the octopus Bring a large pan of lightly salted water to the boil with the onion and bay leaf. Lower the octopus in, bring back to a gentle simmer, cover and cook for 45 to 55 minutes. It is ready when the point of a knife slides into the thickest part of a tentacle with no resistance. Drain.
  2. Bake the potatoes Meanwhile, heat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan). Put the potatoes in a roasting tin, still damp from washing, scatter with the coarse salt and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a knife goes in easily and the skins have wrinkled.
  3. Crush the potatoes Brush off the excess salt. Cover each potato with a tea towel and press down with the heel of your hand until it splits and flattens slightly but holds together.
  4. Roast together Cut the octopus into tentacles and the head into thick strips. Put them in a second roasting tin with the crushed potatoes and the garlic. Pour over the olive oil, grind over some pepper and roast for 15 to 20 minutes, until the tips of the tentacles are browned and crisp and the oil is bubbling.
  5. Serve Scatter with the chopped herbs and bring the tin to the table. Spoon the garlicky oil over each plate and serve with bread.

Do not hurry the simmering. An octopus that is not tender when it comes out of the water will not become tender in the oven.

The purple skin may slip off in places as it cooks. Leave on what stays.

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