Pasta salad with octopus and green beans
( Pasta fredda al polpo )

Recipe for pasta salad with octopus and green beans

Preparation and cooking

• - Prepare the octopus you've bought.
  Clean octopus and put it in salt boiling water.
  Lower the heat and simmer, half-covered, until its meat is tender, at least 45 minutes.
  Turn off the stove and let octopus cool in its cooking liquid.
  At this point skin octopus and cut it into small pieces.
• - Cook the pasta you've chosen together with green beans.
  Bring to the boil abundant salt water and add, at first, green beans and then, when the water is boiling again, pasta too.
  You have to calculate exactly the cooking times for green beans and pasta in order the reach the right cooking at the same time.
  For this reason I suggest to use frozen green beans.
  Read the instructions on the package for both green beans and pasta.
• - Prepare tomatoes.
  Meanwhile peel tomatoes, remove their seeds and chop them.
  Put them in a large bowl together with octopus, aromatic herbs and olive oil.
• - The last step.
  Drain your pasta and green beans together, run under cold water to stop cooking and drain again very well.
  Transfer them to the bowl.
  Season to taste with salt if necessary and stir with delicacy.

Just before serving

• - Prepare this pasta salad an hour before serving it.
  If you prepare this dish some hours ahead you have to chill it but remember to bring it back to room temperature half an hour to an hour before serving.

Note

Tips

• - I make this pasta salad with different kinds of pasta.
  In the photo you can see oregano-and-tomato flavored pasta.
• - In summer you can use fresh green beans, chives and parsley for the best result.

Menu planning

• - Make it for your family in summer. My tip is to prepare it for your Sunday lunch: it's a long-to-do recipe.
• - But it is great for a special occasion too. Think about your next alfresco dinner, Italian-style. Here's a suggestion for your meal.
  Starter: bruschetta with salmon on top or crostini with fish salad or assorted canapés with fish, all paired with Aperol Spritz or Bitter Spritz, both very-easy-to-do cocktail recipes at home.
  Then you could serve seasonal filled vegetables such as my zucchini stuffed with couscous or zucchini flower mini flan.
  Main dish: my pasta salad with octopus and green beans.
  Dessert: fresh fruit tart!
  Remember to match the same white wine used for your spritz!
• - This pasta salad can be a course in a buffet party all year round. The link below.

Useful links for this recipe

• - Here are the links to the suggested recipes above.
  Starters: bruschetta with salmon on the top, crostini with fish salad, assorted canapes with fish
  Aperitivo: Aperol Spritz, Bitter Spritz
  Vegetable recipes: zucchini stuffed with couscous, zucchini flower mini flans
  Dessert: fresh fruit tart.

Healthy eating

• - Note the amount of calories and protein and the combination of its ingredients.
  THis pasta salad with octopus can be only one-plate meal.
  Complete your meal with fresh seasonal fruit. I remember you pasta should be eaten preferably at lunch.
  Here are the doses per head: 60g (2.1 ounces) pasta, 60g (2.1 ounces) green beans, 1 to 2 tomatoes even big (don't worry about the amount of vegetables ... it seems to have a fuller plate if there are a lot of vegetables and for those who are eternally hungry it's a good trick, isn't it?), 250g (8.8 ounces) octopus, aromatic herbs and less than 2 teaspoons olive oil.
• - For its high protein amount I suggest to eat vegetables at dinner.
• - If you want to drink a glass of wine remember you have to add 80-85 kcal per 100 ml.

Loretta

What's the right wine for " Pasta salad with octopus and green beans "?

My husband and I like to match Regaleali Bianco (a white wine of Sicily) to this fish pasta salad. What about you?