Have you ever tried a jumbo squid? It’s actually very similar to octopus, but the texture is a little different and it is a bit tougher. However, if you’re a fan of anything that involves tentacles, you won’t be disappointed. If you can’t get hold of it, you can also use octopus for this recipe. We couldn’t really decide which presentation we like the best, so we put both in here. What do you think?
For 2 portions:
300 g tentacles
1 onion
1 carrot
1 bay leaf
1 smaller leek
100 g romanesco
100 g broccoli
100 g cauliflower
200 ml red wine
200 ml beetroot juice
40 g butter
salt and pepper
Rinse the tentacles and put the in a pot with carrot, onion and bay leaf. Pour in the wine, beetroot juice and bring to boil. Cook for about 2 hours, until the tentacles get soft. Strain the stock and reduce to a sauce, season with salt and add half of the butter.
Cut the veggies into smaller pieces, put some of them aside and quickly blanch the rest. Cool down in very cold water: that’s how it retains colour. Reheat on the rest of the butter and season with salt. Cut the remaining broccoli, cauliflower and romanesco thinly: we used a mandoline slicer and immerse in cold water: they will twist beautifully and look amazing on the plate.
Finally, just sear the tentacles in a very hot pan, put them on a plate and decorate with veggies and the sauce. You can also add some herbs: we put in some oxalis, as it grows on our balcony. Voila, enjoy!
