Baby Octopus & Black Lentil Salad

An evening stroll along Cesenatico's canal perusing restaurant menus inspired the recipe for this colourful salad.

Octopus featured prominently among the many offerings; grilled, poached, marinated, served hot and cold; lots and lots of octopus. The Insalata di Polpo (octopus salad) really appealed to me. The dish was typically composed of marinated octopus, radicchio, mixed greens, tender chickpeas or sometimes cannellini beans, all tossed in a zippy citrus dressing. Simple enough to prepare in the tiny kitchenette of our vacation pad. 

I was able to find most of the ingredients to make this salad the next morning at the small open air farmers market just next to the Pesceria (fish market) in Cesenatico. So, after a few photos along the canal, a quick cappuccino, and a bit of a flirt with some handsome fishermen, I set off to cook my octopus.

I added a cork to the pot when I poached the octopus because it's supposed to ensure a tender result. I'm pretty sure this is just an 'old wives tale', but I do it anyway because Mario Batali says so

Baby Octopus & Black Lentil Salad

• 6-7 baby octopus - cleaned, ask your fishmonger to remove the eyes, beak, and sac. Or, to do it yourself click here for instructions.
• 2 lemons - slice one lemon thinly to add to the poaching liquid, and finely grate the zest and juice of the other for the marinade.
• a big handful of fresh Italian parsley - divide, coarsely chop half and leave the rest as is.
• a few black peppercorns
• about a 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• a healthy pinch of red chill flakes, or to taste
• about 1 cup cooked black lentils* - rinsed
• 1/2 of a small head of radicchio - torn into pieces 
• 2 big handfuls freshly washed mixed salad greens
• a pinch or two of salt, to taste

*For the sake of convenience, I'm using canned lentils, but if you have two pots and two burners at your disposal, it's easy enough to cook your own. Click here for instructions.

• In a medium sized pot, place the octopus, lemon slices, about half of the parsley, black pepper, and a cork. Cover with cold water and place over high heat until the liquid just comes the boil. Reduce heat to low and let the mixture simmer for 30-40 minutes, or until the octopus is tender when pierced with a fork.
• Remove the octopus, rinse under cold water to cool.
• Cut the octopus into bite sized pieces.
• In a large bowl, combine the lemon juice, finely grated lemon zest, olive oil, and chili flakes. Whisk with a fork to combine.
• Add the octopus and lentils and let sit at room temperature for 10- 15 minutes for a quick marinade.
• Add the radicchio, salad greens, and reserved parsley to the bowl and toss to coat the greens.

Feel free to play around with this recipe, measurements are not exact, and there's plenty of room to put your own spin on things. I decided to substitute black lentils for the traditional chickpeas because I love the contrast in colour with the octopus. 

I promised in my last post about cooking in a vacation rental that I'd be sharing some guidelines for grocery shopping in Italy this week....well sorry folks, I've still got some editing to do on that one. Check back soon for some helpful tips on navigating an Italian supermarket.