Grilled octopus with cauliflower and pork

Here's one of my favorite octopus recipes.
It mixes a different flavours and textures into one glorious bite.
As aways, very few excellent ingredients make for a great result.

Start with gently boiling the octopus in salted water with onion, a bit of garlic, bay leaf and dry chilies .

Back in Europe we add a wine cork or two ..its said to help keep the octopus tender.

Consider 20 minutes per pound, shut the heat off and let cool in the liquid.

At the same time boil the cauliflower, cut into florets.

When ready, strain it reserving the cooking water and puree it , adding some of the water if you need more liquid.Season with S&P as needed.

Once the octopus is cold, cut the tentacles or, if small, cut it in two,  plate it on a HOT grill and cook till a nice "crust" appears.

In the while prepare the dressing:

dice some pancetta and slowly saute it in a bit of olive oil in order to render the fat.

Now add minced shallot and heat up a bit and fry it.

Add S&P to taste and a generous splash of cider vinegar and keep it bubbling.

Place the pure on the plate, the octopus on top of it and  sauce it with the bubbling dressing.

I like to serve mine with some nice tender greens, like butter lettuce or baby arugula.

I think it helps fight back the sense of guilt for indulging in all that rendered pork belly fat  YUM!

Buon appetito.

NOTE: a variant I really like is to slice raw octopus extremely thin and roll it up with the cauliflower puree and dip it in the bubbling dressing.... give it a try!