MKR Recipe | Twice-Cooked Octopus with Green Romesco and Jamon Crumb

In this video we recreate another 10 out of 10 dish from MKR Australia 2022. It is Sophie & Katherine’s entrée from episode eight of My Kitchen Rules and we understand why they scored so high. Even though it was our first try cooking octopus it turned out delicious.

https://youtu.be/bNWb_Y6t-GI

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MKR Recipe | Twice-Cooked Octopus with Green Romesco and Jamon Crumb

Yield: 4-6

Author: Traditional, but not

Prep time: 45 MinCook time: 1 HourTotal time: 1 H & 45 M

Ingredients

Octopus

• 4 bay leaves
• 4 cloves garlic, smashed
• 2 eschallots, peeled, halved
• 2 tbs cooking salt
• 2 kg octopus, cleaned, beak removed
• 3 tbs extra virgin olive oil

Slow Roast Tomatoes

• Extra virgin olive oil, to drizzle
• Sea salt flakes, to season

Green Romesco Sauce

• 80 g blanched hazelnuts, roasted
• 1 large bunch flat-leaf parsley, leaves picked
• 1 jalapeno, chopped or other chilli
• 2 small cloves garlic, peeled
• ½ tsp smoked paprika
• 2 tbs white wine vinegar
• 125 ml extra virgin olive oil

Jamon Crumbs

• 2 tbs olive oil
• 50 g piece fatty jamon, cut into 5mm dice or speck
• 200 g fresh breadcrumbs

Instructions

1. To prepare octopus, place bay leaves, garlic, eschallots and salt in a large saucepan of cold water and bring to a simmer. Add octopus and simmer for about 1 hour or until tender depending on how heavy it is.
2. To make green romesco sauce, add hazelnuts to a processor and pulse to coarsely chop. Remove and set aside. Add parsley, jalapeño/chilli and garlic to same processor. Pulse to coarsely chop. Return chopped hazelnuts and add remaining ingredients to processor. Process to form a chunky sauce and season to taste.
3. To make jamon/speck crumbs, heat oil in a small frying pan over medium heat. Cook jamon/speck until crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. Add breadcrumbs to same pan and cook until golden brown and crisp. Stir in jamon/speck, remove and set aside.
4. Preheat oven to 150°C. Line an oven tray with baking paper. Arrange tomatoes on a prepared tray, cut-side up. Drizzle with oil and season with salt flakes. Roast for about 1 hour or lightly charred and brown, but still juicy.
5. To finish octopus, remove from water and drain. Cut off tentacles and thinly slice head. Place in a bowl and add oil. Toss to coat and sprinkle with salt. Heat a barbecue or chargrill over high heat. Add octopus and cook until lightly charred on each side.
6. Divide romesco sauce among serving plates. Top with tomatoes and octopus. Sprinkle with jamon/speck crumbs.
7. TIP: If you are time poor, you can cook the octopus in a pressure cooker. Add the octopus, garlic, eschallot, bay leaves, salt and enough water to cover. Bring up to pressure then turn heat down and cook for about 10-15 minutes until tender (exact time will depend on the size of the octopus).