Octopus salad
(Salata od hobotnice)

Octopus salad and all the best Croatia’s recipes

Octopus salad is a seafood lovers will enjoy. A trick I learned from a friend, who is a native of Split in Dalmatia, is to boil the octopus with a few wine corks in order to help make it tender. Strange, but true it really works. Serve with crackers or breadsticks.

Salata od hobotnice

Ingredients

Serves for 4 persons
1 large octopus, cleaned and rinsed
2 to 3 wine corks, if at all possible
1 red onion, thinly sliced
Olive oil
Wine vinegar
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt and pepper to taste
1 clove garlic, minced
2 to 3 tablespoons chopped parsley
2 tablespoons capers (optional)

Pound the octopus with a meat mallet. Place in a saucepan with water to just cover the octopus, add the wine corks. Simmer over medium heat for about 3 hours until completely tender. Let cool in its cooking water, then chop or slice the octopus and place in salad bowl. Add the sliced onion. Season with olive oil, wine vinegar, lemon juice, salt, pepper, garlic and parsley.

Add capers if desired.

Buy cleaned octopus at quality supermarkets and fish markets. You may also find octopus that is cleaned and frozen, just thaw and cook.

This text is taken from The Best of Croatian Cooking

Related links

Grilled fish ( Riba na gradele )

Black risotto ( Crni risot )

Dalmatian brudet recipe ( Fish stew )

Croatian cuisine

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