Timeless Italian bar culture gets a modern Melbourne twist at Carlo Grossi’s Ombra, the famous restaurant on Bourke Street. The Ombra cookbook brings together the very best of Carlo’s food and hospitality, from lovingly aged meats and homemade sausages to mouth-watering pizzas, all sorts of irresistible bar snacks (cicchetti), hearty evening meals, fermented and pickled vegetables and fruits, and delectable desserts to finish off the evening.
Today, we’re lucky to be able to share with you a recipe from Ombra for octopus with potato and green beans. Happy cooking!
Octopus, potato and green beans
Serves: 4
Octopus can vary greatly in taste and texture and we are really lucky here in Australia to have such a diverse offering of the species across all our waters. Personally, I love the octopus from Fremantle as its texture and flavour are always sumptuous. This recipe gives you a soft, tender, melt-in-the-mouth octopus. Lightly boiled potatoes add a little starch while the green beans bring just a touch of crunch. I always find a spicier style of extra virgin olive oil really brings things together.
The octopus looks impressive when presented whole, but you can also chop it into 2-cm pieces before warming it with the vegetables.
Ingredients
500 g octopus tentacles
1 large onion, roughly chopped
2 sticks celery, roughly chopped
1 large carrot, roughly chopped
3 bay leaves
3 sprigs thyme
2 cloves garlic
200 ml white wine
2 potatoes, boiled until tender then peeled and cut in cubes
100 g green beans, blanched
5 sprigs flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
5–6 basil leaves
extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling
1 lemon, cut into wedges
salt and cracked black pepper
Method
Place the octopus in a large saucepan with the onion, celery, carrot, bay leaves, thyme and garlic. Pour in enough water until the octopus is just covered. Add the white wine and bring just to the boil. Reduce the heat to low and poach for 1 hour or until the octopus is tender.
Remove the pan from the heat and allow the octopus to cool in the poaching liquid.
Once cooled, drain the octopus (and chop into 2-cm pieces, if desired), then toss gently in a saucepan over low heat with the potato, beans, parsley, basil and olive oil until warmed through.
Serve warm or cold with a squeeze of lemon, and seasoned with salt and pepper.
—Ombra by Carlo Grossi (Penguin Books Australia) is out now.
Ombra
Recipes From the Salumi Bar
Timeless Italian bar culture gets a modern Melbourne twist at Carlo Grossi’s Ombra.
In Venice you’ll often hear the phrase Andiamo per un ombra? ('Shall we go for a drink?'). And it’s this 'ombra', the Venetian name for a small tumbler of wine, that inspired Carlo Grossi’s restaurant – a modern take on an authentic Italian salumi bar right in the bustling heart of Melbourne...
17 gorgeous food & design books coming in early 2021!
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