sately

← All recipes

Meals · Skillet & sheet-pan mains

Pulpo a la gallega (Galician octopus with potatoes and pimentón)

59

The dish of every Galician fair: tender octopus snipped into thick coins over slices of potato boiled in the same pot, finished with good olive oil, coarse salt and a generous dusting of pimentón. Only five ingredients, and there is nothing to hide behind.

Time
105 min (10 prep + 95 cook)
Servings
4
Per serving
616 kcal
Protein
64 g

Ingredients

  • 1 octopus, about 3 1/2 lb octopus, cleaned, frozen and thawed overnight in the fridge (freezing makes it tender); cooks down to about 800 g
  • 1 3/4 lb (6 medium) gold potatoes, waxy, scrubbed and left whole
  • 4 tbsp olive oil, extra virgin
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt, coarse or flaky
  • 1 tbsp paprika, pimentón de la Vera, sweet or half sweet and half hot

Steps

  1. Bring a tall pot of unsalted water to a near boil. Holding the octopus by the head, dip it in and lift it out three times so the tentacles curl, then lower it in completely.
  2. When the water returns to the boil, simmer for about 30–40 minutes, until the thickest part of a tentacle is as tender as a cooked potato when pierced. Turn off the heat and leave it in the water for 15 minutes, then lift it out. Keep the water.
  3. Boil the whole potatoes in the octopus water for 15–20 minutes, until tender. Drain, keeping a cup of the water, peel if you like, and cut into 3/8 inch slices.
  4. Snip the tentacles into 3/8 inch coins with kitchen scissors and chop the head small.
  5. Lay the potato on a wooden board or warm plates, moisten with a spoonful of the cooking water and pile the octopus on top. In this order, add the oil, the coarse salt and finally the pimentón through a small sieve. Serve at once, warm.

Good to know

Can I buy it already cooked?

Yes, vacuum-packed cooked octopus from the supermarket is very good here. Warm 800 g gently in simmering water for 5 minutes, boil the potatoes in plain salted water, and dinner is done in 25 minutes.

Can I use more oil?

Yes, pour it to your taste. Doubling it to 8 tablespoons takes it to about 47 instead of 59.

Per

Calories
147
Protein
(43%)
15 g
Fat
(30%)
5 g
Carbohydrates
(27%)
10 g
of which sugar
<1 g
Fiber
1 g
Sodium
406 mg

More meals

Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. How

As written, 2463 kcal goes into the pot and 1676 g of ingredients comes out as about 1675 g of food: 147 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.