Fusilli with Octopus

27. July 2009 Pasta + Noodles + Rice, Shellfish 0

My supermarket in Harlem had these octopus in cans on sale. The idea of a cephalopod in a can sounded odd but the ingredients list didn’t have any weird stuff in it except for octopus and olive oil so I thought it wouldn’t do me any harm to buy a couple for less than $3.

With some fusilli pasta boiling in a pot–you can use any pasta you have handy–I sautéed leftover vegetables I already had in the fridge: mixed greens, dried mushrooms, parsley and garlic scape. The dish turned out really well and it served two meals with a few glasses of Verdejo wine.

Ingredients:
2 tins of octopus in olive oil
2 cups of fusilli pasta
1 cup dried mushrooms, soaked in water for 15 minutes, then drained
a few handfuls of mixed greens
1 garlic scape, chopped
1 small red onion, sliced
a handful of parsley, coarsely chopped
a small wedge of Piave cheese
red chili flakes
oil, salt, pepper

1. Cook pasta in salted boiling water until al dente. Drain pasta and set aside.
2. While cooking pasta, heat some oil in a skillet. Sauté garlic scapes until fragrant and then add onions until soft. Add octopus with its oil and toss. Add the mushrooms, the mixed greens and the parsley until well combined. Season with chili flakes, salt and pepper.
3. Add the drained pasta in the skillet and mix well. Serve with grated Piave cheese.