This is the sort of dish that everyone will love. The perfect crowd pleaser, the dish that people will be talking about for a long time. Creamy fetta cheese, beautifully charred octopus, lemon, herbs, chilli - save it and make it, over and over again! (The octopus can also be pan fried).
BBQ Octopus with Whipped Fetta and Zesty Dressing
Ingredients
For the whipped Fetta
For the dressing
To plate
- Fresh oregano leaves
- Chilli, deseeded and chopped
Instructions
Wash and clean your octopus, removing the internal organs, ink sack, and as much of the outer skin as possible. Alternatively, you can have your fish monger do this for you.
Place the octopus in a large pot, and fill with water until the octopus is just covered. Boil the octopus, uncovered, on a medium heat, until the octopus is tender. The amount of time this will take will vary and will depend entirely on the octopus itself. This can take anywhere between 30 and 60 minutes. Remove the octopus and drain. Rinse the octopus with water, remove any blackened skin that comes of easily.
Place the Fetta and olive oil in a food processor. Whip until it has a smooth consistency.
Combine all the dressing ingredients together in a jar and mix until well combined.
The octopus can either be cooked on the BBQ or in a pan. To BBQ, place the octopus on a hot BBQ and cook until nicely charred on both sides. To cook in a pan, drizzle olive oil in a large, heated pan. Add the octopus and cook until both sides have a nice golden colour (this shouldn’t take longer than 5 minutes on each side).
To plate, spread the whipped Fetta on a platter, top with the octopus, drizzle the parsley dressing over the whole platter and garnish with oregano and chilli. Serve immediately (it goes beautifully with crusty bread).
Recipe by: Sydney Food Sisters.