Octopus stew (Stuffat Tal-Qarnit)

 This dish is quintessential Maltese. Rustic, soul-warming, delicious, and made to be shared. I hear my dad’s voice as I make it, I hear Auntie Vivi telling me I need to put the red wine cork in the pot to stop the octopus going tough, I hear cousins fighting over who gets the crust off the Vienna bread. This dish says family to me.

I prefer this recipe using large octopus. You do need to take a few steps to assist in breaking down the collagen to make the octopus tender.. One way is to freeze the octopus. Freezing helps soften the tentacles. When in San Sebastian I learned the plunge method to help make the octopus silky smooth like butter. Our chefs that day laughed when I asked about using a wine cork to stop the octopus being tough. They had heard the story many times but assured me it has no scientific basis. I was never brave enough to tell Aunty Vivi that! You can of course use baby octopus—in that case, just cut them in half and skip the initial steps outlined below to prep the octopus.

Like all Maltese dishes, there are many local variations with everyone claiming to be the authentic one. This one is my dad’s. We always served it on spaghetti with crusty bread to help soak up the juices.

Serves 4–6

• 600 g octopus
• 1 brown onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 100 g olives
• 400 g tin crushed tomatoes
• 2 tbl capers
• 2 tbl tomato paste
• 300 ml red wine
• 300 ml water
• 1 tbl mixed herbs
• 300 g peeled and diced potatoes
• 100 g frozen peas
• Zest of a lemon
• Fresh ground black pepper

To serve

• Chopped parsley
• Spaghetti
• Crusty bread

Bring a large pot of water to the boil. Carefully plunge the octopus into the water for 3 seconds, lift out, then repeat twice more. Return the octopus to the pot and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from the pot and cut into bite-sized pieces.

In a large heavy-based pot, heat some olive oil. Add the onion and garlic and gently fry until the onion is translucent.

Add the tomatoes, olives, capers, tomato paste, and water. Bring to a simmer.

Add octopus, wine, herbs, and lemon zest. Gently simmer for 30 minutes.

Add potatoes and peas. Simmer for another 20 minutes until potatoes are tender.

Serve on a plate of spaghetti, garnished with black pepper and parsley, with some crusty bread on the side.