INGREDIENTS:

  • 2 lbs octopus
  • 1 Onion
  • 2 Bay leaves
  • 2 Larger potatoes, boiled and sliced diagonally into rounds (about 1/2″ in thickness or less)
  • 1 Teaspoon hot paprika, to taste (about, or more)
  • Sea salt
  • Extra virgin olive oil

PREPARATION:

  1. Rinse and clean the octopus, freeze (if you don’t, it will be hard as a rock. Before freezers, to make it tender we used to “hit” it).
  2. Put water in a BIG pot until it boils. With the help of a hook or any other instrument, put it in, and remove it from the boiling water 3 times; then let it boil for 25 minutes.
  3. Test with a spike its tenderness, and remove the pot from the heat letting it in the water another 15 minutes.
  4. Cut the tentacles (it’s the only part you eat) in slices with some scissors, place the pieces on a wooden bowl and add over it, salt, paprika and olive oil.
  5. (Optional) Cut the potatoes crosswise in 1/2-inch-thick slices and surround the octopus pieces with the potato slices. Drizzle the octopus and potatoes with the olive oil and sprinkle with hot paprika and the remaining tablespoon of salt. Serve the dish while the octopus and potatoes are still warm.