Loretta Sebastiani

Loretta Sebastiani
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Musky octopus stew
( Moscardini in guazzetto)

Traditional recipe

Musky octopus are cephalopod molluscs with eight tentacles and a single row of suckers, very similar to octopus but smaller. Musky octopus from Caorle sea are very special. My husband Carlo and I tasted them stewed. Just got home, we wanted to try the recipe. A real specialty. Simple-to-do and delicious.

difficulty: easy

time: 1 hour

calories: 289 (kCal)

Ingredients / Serves 2

  • 600g (1 1/3 pound) musky octopus
  • 1 to 2 garlic cloves
  • 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
  • Fish broth
  • Fresh parsley (if liked)
  • Salt
Difficulty:
easy recipe
Time:
preparation: 20 minutes
cooking: 40 minutes
total: 1 hour
How many calories in a serving?
Calories: 289 (kcal) 15 % - 1209 (kJ)
Protein: 28.6 (g) 58 % GDA
Total fat: 17.7 (g) 26 % GDA
Total carbohydrate: 3.8 (g) 2 % GDA
Sugars: 3.8 (g) 5 % GDA

Download free PDF version (174 download).

Musky octopus stew recipe

Preparation and cooking

  • - Clean musky octopus.
    I try to leave them intact as much as possible. Generally, I overturn their mantle, thus exposing their innards that I remove. Then I cut their eyes, remove their beak protruding between tentacles, peel their mantle and, as far as I can, even their tentacles. I wash them thoroughly under running water to remove traces of sand from their suckers and thoroughly clean the inside of their mantle.
  • - Cook musky octopus.
    Put olive oil and garlic in an earthenware pot or in a thick-bottomed saucepan.
    Let garlic fry slightly and then add musky octopus too, stirring frequently on high heat.
    Meanwhile prepare fish broth.
    Musky octopus will curl and then form a little liquid.
    Reduce heat.
    Pour in fish broth, a ladle at a time, and continue cooking until tender. Nevertheless leave a lot of cooking liquid.
    It's difficult to say how much time you need. All depends on musky octopus size.
    Control cooking with a fork.
    Season to taste with salt, if necessary.

Just before serving

  • - Serve musky octopus stew, still hot, sprinkled with cooking liquid and chopped parsley, if liked.

Note

Tips

  • - My husband and I prefer not to use garlic and replace it with chopped onion. We let it fry slightly, about 5 minutes, before adding musky octopus.
    I know garlic lovers that use garlic-flavored olive oil to cook musky octopus.
    If you don't know the taste of guests, I suggest you not to use garlic. Now more and more people are intolerant or do not love it.
  • - Cooking technique "in guazzetto" also includes tomato puree. It is a personal choice. We prefer to cook musky octopus in white without adding any tomato.
  • - Another tip. If you can prepare shrimp scampi or prawn broth you'll have a fantastic dish.
  • - As you can see, I serve musky octopus stew accompanied by polenta, according to Venice style.

Menu planning

  • - Musky octopus stew can be a fantastic one-plate meal served with polenta (it serves 2) or a main dish accompanied by a side dish with peas or potatoes. In any case an idea for your family menu.
  • - But you can also think of this dish made with baby musky octopus as appetizer. In this case serve them in individual little cups.

Useful link for this recipe

Healthy eating

  • - Calories and other nutritional value of musky octopus stewed refer only to shellfish. I have not calculated polenta. This is a separate discussion.
  • - No fiber in this dish.

Loretta

What's the right wine for " Musky octopus stew "?

My husband and I are used to match Curtefranca (white wine from Lumbardy) to musky octopus stew.