Braised Octopus with Lemon and Mint

This is a lovely little dish for the warmer weather. Already prepared baby octopus are cheap and cheerful. All that needs doing is cutting away the head from the body and slicing off the beak. This only takes minutes so don’t be put offa preparing this. The fishmonger has done the dirty work for you. Note that in this recipe I only use the woody stalks of the rosemary and not the leaves. This imparts a soft rosemary flavour and doesn’t compete with the mint.

Ingredients
500g Baby octopus, prepared as above
Extra virgin olive oil
6 baby onions, peeled & left whole
1 dried chilli , crumbled
2 garlic cloves, whole but crushed
1 tsp dried oregano
2 rosemary stalks, leaves removed and discarded
Fresh mint
Fresh parsley
Lemon
Fresh pepper

Method
Place the octopus, onions, chilli, garlic, oregano, rosemary stalks and a splash of olive oil into a pan.
Turn the heat to low and cover the pan. Cook this slowly for about 1 hour. The octopus will cook in its own juices and will be tender and very tasty.
Fish out and discard the rosemary stalks.
At this point I take of the lid ,season lightly, and allow it to cool.
When ready to serve I add lots of fresh herbs, a squeeze of lemon and a splash more of oil.
I serve this at room temperature as a sort of cold stew/salad thing. Accompany with steamed saffron rice and steamed asparagus.
Variation- I haven’t tried it but I imagine some currants and roasted pinenuts at the end would make a nice addition.
Serves 2