Garlic and Olive Octopus

Ingredients

• 3 to 4 small cleaned octopus
• 6 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1/2 bunch parsley
• 1 lemon, quartered
• 8 black peppercorns
• Olive oil
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 6 garlic cloves, sliced
• 1 can peeled plum tomatoes
• 8 ounces manzanilla olives
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes to taste
• Kosher salt and cracked black pepper
• 1 pound fresh pasta or 1 loaf of crusty bread

Directions

1. Put the octopus, garlic cloves, parsley, peppercorns and lemon into a pot, add enough cold water to cover, and bring everything to a gentle simmer. Cook until the octopus is tender and the skin slips away easily from the firm white flesh; depending on how thick the tentacles are, this can take 1-1 1/2 hours. When it is tender, lift it out with tongs, then discard the cooking liquid and everything left in the pot. Set the octopus aside until you can handle it comfortably.
2. Coat a large skillet with olive oil and warm it until the oil shimmers. Stir in the onion and cook until it softens, then add the garlic. Continue cooking just until the garlic starts to turn golden. Take the tomatoes out of their liquid and add them to the skillet, crushing each one in your hands as it goes in. Let the sauce simmer until it starts to reduce and thicken, about 15 minutes. Stir in the red pepper flakes, then season to taste with salt and pepper.
3. When the octopus is cool enough to work with, gently rub away the skin from the flesh with your fingers or a paper towel. Pull the tentacles apart from each other, and cut the head into strips. Drizzle the octopus with olive oil and season it with salt and pepper. Heat a grill pan until it is smoking, then add the octopus and cook until it is just starting to char, about 7 minutes.
4. If you are using pasta, cook it and toss it with the tomato sauce, then finish each serving with the charred octopus. If you are serving bread instead, spoon the tomato sauce into a serving dish, add the charred octopus on top, and serve it with sliced bread that has been charred on the grill.