Cooking time: 3 h
Ingredients for 4 portions:
- 500g/700 g Octopus
- 500 g Pumpkin
- 1 Bunch of Asparagus
- Celery, Carrot, Onion to taste
- 85 g Butter
- 125 g Flour
- 7 g Sugar
- 1 Egg
- 8 g Salt
- Balsamic Vinegar of Modena IGP “Black Pearl”
- Balsamic Salt to taste
Preparation:
Preparation of the base:
Mix butter, flour, egg, salt and sugar. Place the mixture onto a tray covered with some baking paper. Bake in the oven at 180°C for approx. 11-12 minute, until the mixture gets brown.
Preparation of the octopus:
Use the celery, carrots and onion to make a broth. Add salt and pepper and bring up to max. 50°C.
Clean the octopus and place it into the broth. Once it starts to boil, lower the heat to medium and cook the octopus for about 1h 30 min. The cooking time depends on the size of the octopus. In our case, we’ve used the one of 500/700 g.
Use a fork to control the cooking of the octopus. Stick it into the largest tentacle. If the fork comes in and out easily, the octopus is done.
Once it is done, leave the octopus into some water for 15 minutes. Then drain it.
As it gets cool, cut the octopus. You need to obtain regular tentacle pieces that do not have to be too large though.
Season with salt, oil and rosemary. Leave aside.
Clean the pumpkin. Then cut it into regular pieces of about 5 cm each. Blanche the pumpkin into some salted water with a bit of rosemary. When it becomes smooth, drain it and then grill it into a non-stir pan. Season the pumpkin with garlic, oil, salt and rosemary. Leave aside.
Let’s make a cream with the rest of the pumpkin. Put some chopped onion into a pan, add a bit of oil and salt. Add the pumpkin and stir-fry, adding a bit of hot water in order to obtain a creamy consistency. Blend the mixture, add salt ( if necessary) and a pinch of pepper. Cover the cream up and leave it aside.
Peel the asparagus stalks and blanch them into salted water. Season with oil and a bit of Balsamic Salt.
Now we are ready to start! Serve the dish in the way you like most, otherwise follow the recommendations of the chef. Don’t forget to add a drizzle of the Balsamic Vinegar of Modena “Black Pearl”.
Buon Appetito!
