The dish I’m cooking today is typical from Portugal and eaten mostly in the Christmas season. In Portuguese it is called Polvo à Lagareiro, basically the Octopus is cooked in a lot of Olive Oil and garlic and uses small punch potatoes as a side, but instead of normal potatoes I’m gonna make sweet Potatoes with lovely spices which makes this dish delicious and richer. It's very easy to make and delicious. I hope you try it out this Christmas.
Serve 4 to 5
Preparation and Cooking time 80 minutes
Ingredients
1.400kg fresh Portuguese Octopus
1kg Sweet Potatoes
0.5 Cup Vinegar
1 medium Onion
2 Bay leaves
2 inches stem french Onion
1 carrot
1 litre Water
2 head of Garlic chopped break in middle
1 tsp Rosemary Powder
1 tsp Paprika
3 Stars Anise
300ml Olive Oil
Salt to taste
Some black Olives to garnish
Some finely chopped Parsley
How to make:
It's the Christmas season and I live in Portugal. I thought this dish deserves to be cooked by me.
Hi everyone, welcome to Pabskitchen.
Today I’m making Polvo à lagareiro, a dish of Octopus roasted in a lot of Olive Oil, garlic and served with roasted small punch Potatoes. This is one of the dishes that is eaten traditionally during Christmas time and I should mention that it's our family favorite.
In this recipe I use sweet potatoes instead of normal Potatoes which makes this dish extra richer and delicious. Please check the video until the end and keep it in your checklist to cook for this Christmas. So with that out of the way, smash that like button and let's start!
This is a fresh Portuguese Octopus I just bought. Let’s put it in a bowl. I asked the fisherman to clean it so he did it as you can see here. Eyes, Mouth and guts are removed. But It doesn't have a pleasant smell so I’m going to add in around a 0.5 cup of vinegar and give a hard massage which helps to clean it and reduce that strong sea smell.
As you can see I massaged it, now I’m keeping it aside for 15 minutes before washing.
Meanwhile I’m boiling a litre of Water and seasoning it with 2 Bay leaves in, 2 small Onions cut in the middle to get all the flavor out, French Onion with little cut in the middle in and 1 Carrot half cut in the middle like this in and let it continue to boil.
15 minutes have passed, now wash the octopus very well until it cleans properly.
The octopus is cleaned now. Let's put it in the boiling water. I don’t put it directly without doing this trick three times. If you want to know why I am doing it please check out my Octopus Salad recipe video where I say why, so here is the link on the right corner. Check it out.
After doing the trick 3 times, let the octopus in. The octopus doesn’t need to be covered by a lot of water because it releases water itself and it cooks well. Now it’s in, lid on and bring it to boil on high heat.
Meanwhile, let it prepare Sweet Potatoes. I’m using purple skin sweet potatoes. Wash them very well, remove the access part and cut it in the middle until halfway which helps to cook fast.
Now all washed and cleaned, put them in the steamer.
Here it is already boiling about 1.5 litres of water. Put the steamer on with the sweet potatoes. Lid on and let it steam for about 30 minutes on medium heat. If you haven’t got a steamer you can boil them directly in the water. The cooking time depends on the size of your sweet potatoes so check it before finishing.
The octopus is already boiling. Now reduce the heat on medium to low and let it cook for about 40 minutes.
While the Octopus and the Potatoes are cooking. I will show the rest of the ingredients I’m using.
2 heads of Garlic, I have chopped in the middle, this must have ingredients.
1 tsp Rosemary powder, if you have fresh one you can use them instead.
1 tsp of smoked Paprika
3 Star Anise. It’s optional but adds a sweet aromatic and fragrance to the dish.
Salt to taste, the octopus doesn’t need salt so just use it for the sweet potatoes.
Olive Oil 300ml, a lot of Olive oil is really necessary.
Some finely chopped Parsley to garnish you can use coriander if you like.
Some good quality black Olives to garnish too.
We have seen the ingredients. Now let's go back to check the octopus.
40 minutes passed cooking Octopus. Poke it with a fork to know if it’s cooked. As you can see the fork is going easily so it’s cooked. Transfer to a plate and let it cool down.
Next the sweet Potatoes, touching it to see if it is cooked. It’s soft. Remove and let it cool down.
The boiled Octopus and the sweet Potatoes are cool enough to handle now. Let's separate the tentacle, you can separate one by one or two like I did, put back on the plate and the head chop it up like this in strips.
The sweet Potatoes are cut in like this to open inside with the help of a knife and give a few cuts in another direction and give a bit of squeeze to open then when we sprinkle the spices goes in easily you will see what I mean later.
Now Let’s prepare for the oven. Preheat the Oven first.
I’m using this tray. Now let’s put everything inside.
First, Octopus….
Second, making a space and put in sweet Potatoes. Star Anise for aroma and to feel festive.
Sprinkle smoked Paprika evenly… and Rosemary powder too.
Now Garlic then Salt to taste only on sweet Potatoes and finally a lot of Olive Oil. Put evenly on top of all the Potatoes and Octopus.
I have finished putting in the olive Oil and it looks rich and already delicious.
Now it goes in the preheated Oven for 30 minutes at 200C or until the upper part creates a nice colour.
30 minutes passed. The dish is ready. The Octopus and the sweet Potatoes look amazingly juicy. Sprinkle some parsley and let’s serve.
First sweet Potatoes then Octopus.
Star Anise and squeeze the cooked garlic head, Olives not just for garnish it gives a nice refreshness too, sprinkle a little bit of Parsley and Olive Oil from the tray, drizzle around.
The leftover Olive oil you can reuse for other seafood dishes because it's not fried.
It looks really amazing and full of aroma.
Now I’m going to taste the Octopus first. So soft and chewy at same time and so flavorful from the Rosemary, Star Anise, Garlic and lots of Olive Oil.
Let’s see and taste the sweet Potatoes. Very well cooked and creamy and the aroma is delicious. Normally eaten with small punch potatoes but trust me like this is super tasty.
I hope you like this amazing and typical Portuguese delicacy. Plan to make it this Christmas if you can. This is it for today.
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Thank you so much for watching bye.
