Ingredients
| IF USING OCTOPUS | |
| 1 octopus (approx 1kg tentacles) | |
| 1 carrot | |
| 1 onion | |
| 1 stick celery | |
| 1 bay leaf | |
| MUSSELS & FISH | |
| 1kg mussels | |
| ½ cup white wine or water | |
| 2 shallots, peeled, thinly sliced, rings separated | |
| ½ cup olive oil | |
| 3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced | |
| 2-3 tablespoons harissa paste (I used Alexandra’s Rose Harissa paste) | |
| 4 anchovies | |
| 500g cherry tomatoes, halved | |
| 1kg mixed fish fillets (I used a mix of mirror dory and kingfish) | |
| a good handful coriander leaves, roughly chopped | |
| a good handful parsley leaves, roughly chopped | |
| lemon wedges, to serve | |
| crusty bread, to serve |
A seafood platter is a wonderful thing and paired with an intensely flavoured tomato and harissa broth it’s an easily adaptable dish. It’s easy enough to halve the recipe if you aren’t feeding a crowd and you can, of course, change out the seafood for what you have to hand or have a preference for. Yes, this can take a bit of time, especially if you are planning to cook octopus. I break it down into components: I cook the octopus and mussels the day before; if I know I’m going to be rushed, I prep the sauce ahead. Then all you have to do is cook the fish later on.
Octopus is a neglected treasure and while it’s rare to see fresh octopus available you can often find them frozen. They do need a long, slow simmer in aromatics to become tender, although on a whim I thought I would try it in my pressure cooker and I think that now it will be favourite way to cook it.
View the recipe collection here
Instructions
| 1. | OCTOPUS |
| 2. | Discard the innards from the head or if you prefer just cut off and discard the head – I tend to remove the beak (the hard piece where the tentacles meet) and eyes after it is cooked and cooled. |
| 3. | Clean the octopus making sure that the tentacle suckers are clean. Remove the skin if you wish, although I often don’t bother. |
| 4. | Put into a pan with just enough water to cover. Add the aromatics and bring up to a gentle simmer. |
| 5. | You shouldn’t need to add salt to the pan as the octopus is naturally salty. |
| 6. | To keep the octopus submerged, you may need to put a small plate or bowl on top. |
| 7. | Cook gently for an hour (or sometimes a little longer), checking occasionally. |
| 8. | When ready, a sharp knife inserted into the base of the tentacles should go in easily with just a little resistance. |
| 9. | Remove from the heat and cool in the liquid. Refrigerate until required, for up to 3 days. |
| 10. | Before using, remove from liquid and cut into smaller pieces if necessary. |
| 11. | If using an Instant Pot or other electric pressure cooker, put the aromatics and octopus in the pot, add 1 cup water, seal and pressure cook for 10 minutes. Do a natural release. |
| 12. | Cool in the liquid. Before using, remove from the liquid and cut into smaller pieces if necessary. |
| 13. | MUSSELS & FISH |
| 14. | Steam the mussels with the wine until they open (approx. 5 minutes) reserving the liquor. |
| 15. | When cool enough to handle, remove the meat from the shells, pour the liquor through a fine sieve and set aside. |
| 16. | Put the shallots into a small pot with the olive oil. Heat to a medium heat and cook the shallots until they start to colour, stirring occasionally. |
| 17. | After about 15-20 minutes the shallots will become golden brown and crispy. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. |
| 18. | Strain the oil and reserve most of it for another use. |
| 19. | Add 2 tablespoons oil to a wide pan and fry the garlic over a gentle heat for a minute or two until golden, add the harissa paste and anchovies and fry for a minute or so. |
| 20. | Add the cherry tomatoes and cook for a minute then add the reserved mussel liquor. |
| 21. | Cook for 15 minutes to reduce slightly and then add the mussels and octopus (if using) and cook just long enough to warm through. |
| 22. | If necessary cut the fish fillets into smaller pieces, pat dry and season with salt. |
| 23. | Heat a little oil in a frying pan, add the fish and fry until cooked (if you are making a smaller portion simply poach the fish with the seafood in the pan with the sauce). |
| 24. | Put onto a platter then top with the sauce and seafood. |
| 25. | Garnish with the chopped herbs and crisp shallots. |
| 26. | Serve with lemon wedges on the side and crusty bread to mop up the juices. |
Recipes & food styling Ginny Grant / Photography Aaron McLean / Styling Fiona Lascelles