Ingredients:

• 1 octopus of 2 to 3 kg.

• 1 kg of Galician potatoes

• Coarse salt (to taste)

• Sweet or hot paprika (or mixed, depending on taste)

• Extra virgin olive oil

• Water

Preparation of the octopus. How we cook it.

1- It is very important to soften the octopus before cooking it.

2- We take the octopus out of the freezer the day before and put it in the fridge to defrost. It is important to do it in a casserole or a big bowl because it will release a lot of liquid and it can overflow.

3- When cooking, put the octopus in cold water to remove any impurities.

4- We put a casserole (the biggest we have) to the fire with water, we do not add salt because the octopus is salted at the end, in the presentation.

5- When it comes to the boil, add the octopus, take it by the head and "scare" it. This technique consists of putting the octopus in and taking it out of the casserole three times to make sure that the octopus stays stiff and does not fall out of its skin during cooking.

6- We cook the octopus for about 35-40 at medium heat depending on the size (the normal is to cook an octopus of 1.8 kg - 2 kg, with 30-35 is enough). In this case, it was a 3 kg octopus, so we had to cook it since it started boiling for about 40 minutes.

7- You have to prick it from time to time to see If it’s cooked or not. The first time you cook it it will be hard to get the point but then it will come out of it.

Preparation of potatoes and Galician octopus:

1- While it is cooking, we peel, wash and cut the potatoes in half.

2- When we finish cooking the octopus we let it rest for a few minutes and then we take it out to a dish. In the same water, add the potatoes and cook for 15 minutes.

3- If you don't want them to get pink you can make them in another casserole. That depends on each one, I like them with the taste of octopus.

4- We cut the octopus with some kitchen scissors, the legs in 1 cm thick pieces and the head in small pieces.

5- We serve it on a wooden plate with a potato base.

6- Salt with coarse salt, sprinkle with paprika (hot or sweet) and drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil. I also like to season it with a little bit of cooking water.

This post is published in Hive blog : https://hive.blog/hive-174578/@aminealaoui/pulpo-a-la-gallega

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