Grilled octopus with lemon dressing served with Gruner Veltliner

Grilled octopus with lemon dressing

Ingredients

2lb fresh octopus tentacles

3 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, divided

two lemons

2 teaspoon black pepper

1 tablespoon fresh chopped or dried oregano

2 teaspoons kosher salt

olives

Place the octopus in a pot and cover with cold water. Heat until the water begins to boil, reduce heat and simmer until the octopus tender 1-2 hours. To check for tenderness, you should be able to pierce the thickest part of the tentacle easily with a paring knife.

Allow the octopus to cool in the water, then remove and pat dry with a paper towel. For maximum char, let the tentacles dry sitting on paper towel in the fridge for another 2-3 hours. The drier they are, the more char you will get without overcooking them.

Preheat grill to 450 degrees

Coat tentacles with 1 1/5 T olive oil. Sprinkle with salt.

Combine the remaining olive oil, salt, oregano and black pepper. Add juice of one of the lemons. Cut the remaining lemon into wedges and set aside.

Grill tentacles to char and crisp on the edges, about 2-3 minutes, then turn and char another 2-3 minutes.

Drizzle with the lemon, oregano and oil mixture garnish with olives and extra lemon wedges.