Octopus in Red Wine

Ingredients

• 30 g lean smoked bacon
• 500 g octopus (pre‑cooked)
• Salt
• pepper (ground)
• 0.5 Carrot
• 30 g celery
• 2 Spring Onions
• 1 tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 tsp tomato paste
• 500 ml light red wine
• 2 Tomatoes
• 1 Garlic clove
• 1 sprig thyme
• 1 Shallot
• 1 tsp butter
• 125 g Arborio rice
• 100 ml White wine
• 750 ml vegetable broth
• 1 bay leaf
• 50 g goat fresh cheese
• 40 g grated Parmesan
• basil (for garnish)

Instructions

1. 1.

   Dice the bacon finely. Wash and pat dry the octopus, season with salt and pepper. Peel and chop the carrot, celery, and spring onions into small pieces. Crush the garlic. Preheat the oven to 160 °C (convection). Brown the bacon in a pot with hot oil. Add the carrots, celery, and spring onions and sauté briefly. Stir in tomato paste, deglaze with 100 ml red wine and reduce until almost evaporated. Repeat with another 100 ml of red wine two more times. Dice the tomatoes. Add the remaining wine, garlic, tomatoes, thyme, and octopus to the pot, covering about half the octopus with liquid. Cover and simmer in the oven for about an hour, spooning occasionally. For the risotto, finely dice the shallot and sauté in butter until translucent. Add the rice and stir until glossy. Pour in white wine, reduce, then add enough broth to just cover the rice. Add the bay leaf. Stir until the rice absorbs the liquid, adding more broth a ladle at a time, cooking for about 20 minutes until al dente.

2. 2.

   Remove the octopus from the pot and let rest. Strain the sauce through a sieve and reduce to about one‑third of its volume. Cut the octopus into pieces and briefly coat in the sauce. Mix goat cheese and Parmesan into the risotto, season with salt and pepper. Plate the risotto using a metal ring, top with octopus pieces, drizzle some sauce around, and garnish with basil.