BBQ Octopus & Squid

Italy – the land of a never-ending summer. Through my rose-tinted glasses, I see Italy as a place that is forever stuck in golden hour, where people adorn their conversation with Aperol Spritz and bowls of olives. The food. The culture. The history. The art. The romance. The scenery. Ahh, la dolce vita.

The reason for my overly romanticised, Anglo Saxon delusions? Every time the sun comes out, I want to fill my belly with fresh, Italian flavours. Sun = Italy. So, as the sun poked itself out over the clouds in Chamonix today, a food-based celebration was in order. Craving Italian freshness, an early evening dinner in the sunshine with good quality ingredients was just what the doctor ordered.

I love this quote on Italy by the great Italian journalist, Beppe Severgnini:

“Your Italy and our Italia are not the same thing. Italy is a soft drug peddled in predictable packages, such as hills in the sunset, olive groves, lemon trees, white wine, and raven-haired girls. Italia, on the other hand, is a maze. It’s alluring, but complicated. It’s the kind of place that can have you fuming and then purring in the space of a hundred meters, or in the course of ten minutes.

Italy is the only workshop in the world that can turn out both Botticellis and Berlusconis.”

Beppe Severgnini

When it comes to the tastiest of marine creatures, octopus wins tentacles down for me and the Italians know how to cook it. Fresh, not fussed with too much and oh, so tender. Octopus is not as intimating to cook as it may seem, all it needs is a bit of care in preparation to ensure that it tastes deliciously tender and the flesh remains delicate. To break down the collagen and stop the octopus from being tough and rubbery, I boiled it for an hour or so in aromatics before flash grilling it on the barbecue for extra taste. The bi-product of this method of preparation leaves you with an amazing fishy broth which can be used for something like a seafood Pho or base for a fish bisque. The alternative to cooking cephalopods through long and slow and slow methods is to cook them rapidly to prevent the muscle fibres from toughening in the first place. I used this method of cooking with squid tube which I popped onto a screaming hot barbecue to go with the octopus. 

The only secret is to really treat yourself and use the best quality ingredients you can find, these simple recipes rely on the ingredients to sing loud and proud. I hope the sun is shining as you read.

Serve your BBQ octopus and squid with a delicious, vibrant salsa.

BBQ Octopus & Squid

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Course: BBQ, Lunch, DinnerCuisine: ItalianDifficulty: Easy

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

1

hour 

30

minutes

Cooking time

3

minutes

The only secret is to really treat yourself and use the best quality ingredients you can find, these simple recipes rely on the ingredients to sing loud and proud. The perfect recipe for a summer BBQ

Ingredients

• Squid

• 4 squid, cleaned and prepped

• Octopus

• 1 Large octopus, cleaned and pre-prepared

• 1 fennel bulb, cut into quarters

• 10 bay leaves

• 2 Sprigs fresh or dried thyme

• 2 tbsp black peppercorns

• 1 red chilli, sliced in salt

• drop vinegar

Directions

• Gently pat the octopus dry then pop it onto a searing hot barbecue and treat it the same way as you did the squid. 
• To prepare the octopus, place the octopus ingredients in a pan, along with enough water to cover the octopus. Simmer for an hour, or until you can slice through tentacle like butter. 
• Drain the liquid and reserve it for another dish, it’s too good to throw down the sink!
• To prepare the squid, run a knife down the length of each squid tube, cutting through one side only so you can open each one out like a book. Lightly score the inside of each tube in a criss-cross fashion at ½cm intervals.
• In a screaming hot griddle pan or on a barbecue, cook each piece for about 1 minute per side – with no oil or seasoning – until lightly charred and starting to curl. Keep it moving for even cooking. As each piece is done, use tongs to dunk it straight into the salsa (recipe below), turning and coating it in all that goodness.
• Gently pat the octopus dry and cut into sections – keep each piece roughly around the same size so that it cooks evenly. Then pop it onto a searing hot barbecue and treat it the same way as you did the squid.