Octopus risotto or polpo alla parmigiana

How to prepare an octopus risotto.

A few months ago I prepared this delicious and simple risotto with polpo or octopus alla parmigiana in a course , an easy and very tasty octopus recipe   that can be prepared in a very short time.

An ideal dish to serve at a dinner or lunch with friends and family, I imagine that with these lines I have already convinced you to continue reading, right?

When we talk about risotto it seems that fear automatically enters us and the truth is that it has no secret. Just use good ingredients, some patience and a good casserole.

To make an authentic Italian risotto, where the rice needs many turns and gradually add the broth, the varieties indicated for their starch content are arborio, small vialone, baldo or carnaroli, glutinous and round grain.

A recipe that will delight anyone who likes octopus, I also assure you that it will be perfect with all the secrets to cook the octopus  and that it is cooked .

A  Galician-Italian risotto  that is still a harvest rice, because to do so I used the leftovers of an octopus a la gallega or a feira . Some carvings that were left of a delicious octopus from Galicia Calidade .

I usually save the octopus cooking water, but in this case Rosa de los vientos , they sent me a one-liter bottle with that wonderful liquid. A perfect way to flavor the risotto that I present today. Remember, nothing is thrown away.

Preparation of the base of our octopus risotto

You can see how to cook the octopus in the Galician octopus recipe . Remember to save the cooking water (you can even freeze it) because it will be perfect for broths,  octopus pie dough , cooking pasta or this rice.

1. Once we have cooked the octopus we chop it into  brunoise  (a way to cut this octopus into small cubes of 1 to 2 mm on a side) on a cutting board.
2. In this case, as it is already cooked, we just have to remove it from the container and leave half to decorate the rice with some octopus carvings.
3. We fry very finely chopped onion slowly in a nut of butter and a little extra virgin olive oil in which we have marinated a few cloves of garlic (this way it will add flavor to it without taking it).
4. We can include a little leek and we have to make it translucent, almost transparent.
5. Add the octopus and toast it in the vegetables for about 10 minutes over medium-low heat, it should change to a darker tone, thus we will get all the flavor of the sea.
6. We stir to mix the flavors with the vegetables. We throw the rice and toast it, when the rice grains turn translucent, we start adding a ladle with the octopus cooking water.

Preparation of the risotto and final presentation

1. We have to wait for this broth to evaporate before adding another ladle again, checking that there is never too much broth in the casserole but it is not dry either.  
2. We must incorporate the water little by little, stirring very frequently. 
3. We repeat the process until the rice is tender but whole, a little al dente, harder than we are used to in Spanish cuisine. We are testing it and if necessary we add a little more water that we have reserved (200 ml., In our case it was not necessary).
4. It is perhaps the most important step, I do not set cooking times as it depends a lot on the type of cuisine you have and the temperature you use, but do it little by little, without hurry.
5. We remove from the fire and ” butter “, that is, we stir slowly without force with the cheese that we have previously grated so that our rice is as creamy as possible.
6. In this case we have used  Parmigiano Reggiano , a hard, semi-fatty, slow-ripening cheese, perfect for a risotto. It will give our rice a creamy, not soupy texture.
7. I do not add butter, because with the cheese for me it is already very creamy, but if you want you can add some butter, in small quantities, so that it is even creamier.
8. It must be removed without stopping, so that the residual heat distribution of the casserole is uniform, and we also make it easier for the rice to release its starch.
9. We have not added salt at any time, I do it at the end, because the cheese has enough and at the end of the preparation I adjust salt and sometimes add a touch of white pepper (to taste at home).

We serve freshly made, warm, with octopus carvings and sprinkle with a little paprika from La Vera. Simply delicious.

You can see all the photos of the recipe in the step by step of the octopus risotto recipe. If you have doubts, follow the photos and you will get a delicious rice.

Tips for a Suckling Octopus Risotto

• Some more vegetables such as a carrot, celery or sun-dried tomatoes would also be very good for stir-frying, always very chopped, so that they are not noticeable at the end of cooking.
• In this type of Italian rice we are going to appreciate the action of the starch, the delicious flavor provided by the butter and controlling the correct cooking point. The fine line between crude and past of a Spanish and an Italian may not be the same. The important thing is that you try it and little by little you get an authentic risotto, I hope to help you with this recipe.
• The broth is essential since it will be the one that flavor the rice. Normally we will use poultry, meat, vegetables or a good fish and seafood broth , depending on the ingredients that accompany the rice. In this case we take advantage of the octopus cooking water, which will be perfect to give all the flavor to this rice.
• You can add flavorings like saffron, although for this type of risotto, with octopus water, it is not necessary. It also adds a little color.
• Choose from all the rice recipes that you will find on the blog, with simple ingredients such as ” risotto with boletus edulis and prawns “, ” risotto a la Parmigiana “, ” risotto with artichokes and lamb “,   saffron   or a classic sea ​​and mountain . I am sure your favorite risotto will be there.