Polvo guisado à açoriana
Octopus stewed in red wine
Polvo guisado: Azorean octopus stewed in red wine with allspice and potatoes
On Pico and Terceira, octopus caught among the black volcanic rocks is stewed slowly in red wine with onions, garlic, allspice and a spoonful of pimenta da terra, until the pieces are tender and the sauce is dark and rich. It is a dish for village festas and cold winter Sundays, ladled over potatoes with bread on the side. The recipe uses red wine; for an alcohol-free version, use water with a tablespoon of red wine vinegar. Chef's tip: buy frozen octopus, or freeze fresh octopus for a day; freezing breaks down its fibres and makes it far more tender.
- Total time
- 125 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 6
Ingredients
- 3 ⅓ lb octopuscleaned, thawed if frozen
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 2 onionschopped
- 5 garlic cloveschopped
- 2 ripe tomatoespeeled and chopped
- 1 tbsp pimenta da terraor 1 tsp chilli paste
- 1 tsp sweet paprika
- 6 allspice berrieslightly crushed
- 1 cup red wineor water with 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
- ¾ cup water
- 1 ¾ lb waxy potatoespeeled, in large chunks
- 2 tbsp flat-leaf parsley (optional)chopped
Shop this recipe on Amazon
Fresh ingredients (5)
Links open Amazon in a new tab. As an Amazon Associate, WhatToEat.Today earns from qualifying purchases.
Method
0/7 doneStep 1: Rinse 3 ⅓ lb octopus and cut it into pieces about 4 cm long, slicing the head into strips.
Step 2: Warm ¼ cup olive oil in a heavy casserole over a medium heat and cook 2 onions and 5 garlic cloves for 8 minutes until soft and golden.
8 minStep 3: Add the octopus and stir for 5 minutes. It will turn pink and give off plenty of liquid; don't add salt yet, as octopus is naturally salty.
5 minStep 4: Stir in 2 ripe tomatoes, 1 tbsp pimenta da terra, 1 tsp sweet paprika, 6 allspice berries and 2 bay leaves, then pour in 1 cup red wine and ¾ cup water. Bring to a simmer.
3 minStep 5: Cover and cook over a low heat for 50–60 minutes, stirring now and then. A common mistake is boiling octopus hard: it seizes and turns tough, so keep it at a gentle bubble.
60 minStep 6: Add 1 ¾ lb waxy potatoes, pushing them under the sauce, and simmer covered for 25–30 minutes, until the potatoes are soft and a knife slides into the thickest octopus piece with no resistance. Taste and add salt if needed.
30 minStep 7: Rest for 5 minutes off the heat, scatter with 2 tbsp flat-leaf parsley and serve in deep bowls with bread.
5 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 420 kcal
- Protein
- 40 g
- Carbs
- 33 g
- Fat
- 14 g
- Fibre
- 4 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does polvo guisado à açoriana take?
- About 125 minutes in total: 25 minutes to prepare and 100 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 6 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of onions?
- 2 shallots per onion.
- What can I use instead of garlic cloves?
- ½ tsp garlic paste or ⅛ tsp garlic powder per clove.
Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to cook it.
Rate this recipe
Sign in to rate and review this recipe.
You might also like
Moreton Bay bugsSlipper lobster with garlic butter
Moreton Bay bugs are the flat, shovel-nosed slipper lobsters caught off the Queensland coast around Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast, and for Queenslanders they are a summer treat, split and grilled at the beach house. The tail meat is sweet and rich, somewhere between lobster and prawn. Buy them raw, frozen or fresh, from a fishmonger and ask them to halve them if you like. A common mistake is overcooking, which makes the meat rubbery; it is ready the moment it turns white. Chef's tip: grill flesh side down first to mark it, then turn and baste in the shell.
Australian
All i pebreEel and potato paprika stew
In El Palmar and the other villages around the Albufera lagoon south of Valencia, the restaurants that are famous for paella serve something older first: all i pebre, "garlic and pepper", a brick-red stew of lagoon eel and potatoes thickened with a pounded almond and fried-bread picada. It is rich, garlicky and gently hot, eaten with bread to mop up the sauce. Ask your fishmonger to skin and cut the eel, and handle it with gloves: raw eel blood is irritating, though harmless once cooked. If you can't find eel, monkfish or hake works well. A common mistake is letting the paprika burn; it turns bitter in seconds, so add it off the heat. Chef's tip: break the potatoes with a knife instead of cutting cleanly; the rough edges release starch and thicken the sauce.
Spanish
Midia saganakiMussels with tomato and feta
Thessaloniki is Greece's mussel capital, with farms in the Thermaic Gulf a few kilometres from the seafront ouzeries where this two-handled pan arrives, still bubbling, at the table. Mussels steam open in a quick sauce of peppers, tomato and chilli, and crumbled feta melts into the juices at the end. Bread is essential. The classic version adds a splash of ouzo; this one is alcohol-free, using a pinch of fennel seed for that aniseed note (add 2 tbsp ouzo with the tomatoes if you like). Common mistake: overcooking — take the pan off the heat as soon as the shells open. Chef's tip: buy mussels on the day and keep them in the fridge in a bowl covered with a damp cloth, never in water.
Greek