Octopus, pea shoot and garden herb salad with chilled tomato gastrique by The Ninth Wave Restaurant, Mull
This recipe evolved from Jonny’s Octopus Stuffed Tomatoes, which were the first thing he ever cooked for me. This is a delightful salad, enhanced by the contrast of the tart gastrique. Octopus meat is creamy with a pleasant mild flavour.
The Ninth Wave Restaurant on the Isle of Mull showcases quality modern British cuisine with an eclectic mix of vibrant ethnicity: a celebration of quality produce gathered from the magnificent larder of Scotland.
For more information visit www.ninthwaverestaurant.co.uk
Ingredients: Serves 4-6
For the octopus:
450g octopus, gutted and cleaned
60g onion
1 tsp salt
2 sprigs fresh thyme
4 sprigs parsley
4 sprigs golden marjoram
2 curry leaves (or bay leaves)
For the dressing:
1 clove garlic, crushed
½ tsp ground coriander
1 tbsp marjoram, chopped
1 tsp mint, chopped
1 spring onion finely sliced
6 cherry tomatoes quartered
60ml Greek-style yoghurt
90ml crème fraiche
1 tsp lemon juice
Dash of chilli oil
Sea salt and black pepper
Chives and marjoram to garnish
For the Gastrique:
450g cherry tomatoes
25g butter
1 shallot, minced
15g sugar
2tbsp red wine vinegar
Method
For the octopus:
1 Place all of the ingredients for the octopus in a large pot.
2 Cover generously with water and bring to the boil, then reduce to a low heat, cover, and simmer for 1 hour or until tender.
3 Remove octopus and allow to cool.
For the dressing:
1 Mix all dressing ingredients in a large bowl and season with salt and pepper to taste.
2 When the octopus is cool, remove the hard-round beak in the centre of the tentacles, if still present. Remove suckers and skin and discard.
3 Slice octopus into roughly 15mm cubes and add to the dressing. Mix and marinade in fridge for 4-6 hours. Then add the peas and spring onions.
To make the gastrique
1 Heat the ingredients to boiling on a medium heat, then reduce to low and simmer for 15 minutes until tomatoes are soft.
2 Use a hand-blender to puree the tomatoes.
3 Press the gastrique mix through a sieve with the back of a spoon.
To serve:
1 Serve a chilled spoonful of octopus salad in the middle
of each plate and surround
with a portion of the tomato gastrique.
2 Garnish with fresh marjoram and chives.
In association with Taste Communications.
www.tastecommunications.co.uk
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article