Grilled octopus with green beans and potatoes, flavoured with wild fennel

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Chef Salvatore Elefante boils the octopus for this dish first, before grilling it quickly to finish. This means that the tentacles are tender, yet with a crisp exterior which is a perfect match for the fragrant fennel salad.

First published in 2015

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Octopus

  • 200g of octopus, tentacles only
  • olive oil
  • salt to taste

Court bouillon

  • 750ml of water
  • 10g of salt
  • 1 shallot, chopped
  • 1 leek, white part only, chopped
  • 1 carrot, chopped
  • 1 stick of celery, chopped
  • 1 lemon grass stalk
  • 1 slice of lemon peel
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 2 black peppercorns
  • 1 tsp coriander
  • 1 tsp ginger, sliced

Wild fennel oil

To serve

  • 100g of potatoes
  • 50g of green beans
  • 20g of cherry tomatoes
  • 5g of anchovy extract
  • salt to taste

Equipment

  • Blender

Method

1
For the wild fennel oil, blitz the oil and wild fennel in a blender and bring to a temperature of 60°C. Leave to stand overnight
2
Place the octopus in a large saucepan with the court bouillon ingredients and bring to a simmer. Cook for 30 minutes then leave to cool in the water. Once cold, cut the tentacles into 5cm pieces
  • 750ml of water
  • 10g of salt
  • 1 shallot, chopped
  • 1 leek, white part only, chopped
  • 1 carrot, chopped
  • 1 stick of celery, chopped
  • 1 stick of lemongrass (1)
  • 1 slice of lemon peel
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 2 black peppercorns
  • 1 tsp coriander
  • 1 tsp ginger, sliced
  • 200g of octopus, tentacles only
3
Dice the potato into 2cm dice and cook in boiling salted water until soft for approximately 10 minutes
4
Top and tail the beans and cook in salted boiling water for 3 minutes. Refresh in iced water
  • 50g of green beans
5
Cut the tomatoes into wedges and mix with the beans and potatoes. Season with salt, the infused wild fennel oil and anchovy extract
  • 20g of cherry tomatoes
  • 5g of anchovy extract
  • salt to taste
6
Just before serving, grill the octopus tentacles and season with salt and oil. Arrange the salad on the plate and arrange the tentacles on top
  • olive oil
  • salt to taste
First published in 2015

With a menu dictated by what fish has been caught that morning, Salvatore Elefante’s style of cooking is spontaneous, simple and based on the flavours of his childhood.

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