Octopus fritá, typical recipe from Formentera

Octopus is one of the products that have defined the essence of some of Spain’s traditional cuisine. More specifically, Galician cuisine, with its traditional octopus a feira, as well as the cuisine of one of the Pitiusa islands of the Balearic archipelago, Formentera. This recipe of octopus fritá is set in an exceptional natural setting, between heavenly beaches and crystalline waters.

Octopus fritá is a very tasty preparation in which vegetables, potatoes and octopus are the undisputed protagonists. It can also be an ideal filling for the traditional Galician empanada, thus mixing the best of two worlds.

Ingredients for the octopus fritá:

  • 500 g cooked octopus
  • 2 potatoes
  • 1 large onion
  • 4 cloves of garlic
  • 1 green pepper
  • 1/2 red pepper
  • 50 ml fish fumet
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 teaspoon of sweet paprika
  • 250 ml of extra virgin olive oil
  • Salt

How to Make the octopus fritá:

  1. To start preparing the octopus fritá we need to cook the sofrito first. Start by cutting the peppers and onions into thick squares, in a rustic way. Peel and chop the garlic into small pieces. Finally, peel and cut the potatoes into medium sized segments.
  2. Add the oil in a frying pan and add the potatoes, peppers, onion and bay leaf. Cook over medium heat for at least 25 minutes or until all the vegetables are poached. 5 minutes before finishing, add the finely chopped garlic, so that it retains more flavour and does not burn.
  3. Once the sofrito is ready, drain it on a strainer and let it rest for 10 minutes so that all the excess oil drains off. Once the time has passed, return it to the same pan and, over a medium heat, add the paprika and salt to taste. Cook for a few seconds and add the fumet. This can be prepared at home or bought already made, it depends on each person.
  4. Finally, add the octopus cut into small pieces and leave to cook for 10 minutes so that all the flavours are well integrated. Now we only need to plate it and enjoy it with a good glass of white wine.

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