Octopus and shrimp balls

• You can find el Rey del Pulpo octopus either chilled or frozen. If you’re using the latter, the first thing you have to do is to thaw it. To do this, leave it to sit in a bowl of lukewarm water for 30 minutes.
• Then, remove it from its packaging and slice the octopus tentacles and raw shelled shrimps into very small pieces.
• Next, mince 1 garlic clove, ¼ onion and 1 sprig of parsley as finely as possible. Leave the slice of bread to soak in milk.
• In a bowl, mix the octopus and shrimps together with the minced garlic, onion and parsley. Add the egg, the slice of bread with all excess milk squeezed out and salt, and combine everything together until you get a compact mixture.
• Now’s the time to form the octopus balls. Take a tablespoon of the mixture, roll it into a ball and dip in the flour, tapping off any excess.
• Heat plenty of olive oil in a frying pan and fry the octopus and shrimp balls for 3 or 4 minutes. Remove, drain onto a platter lined with paper towels, and set aside.
• Strain some of the olive oil used in frying the octopus and shrimp balls into a saucepan, and sauté the remaining minced onion and 2 cloves of garlic on low heat.
• When the onions are almost translucent, add the can of tomato purée, fish stock and bay leaf.
• Cook on low heat for about 10 minutes, stirring every once in a while. Add the octopus and shrimp balls and leave to cook an additional 10 minutes.
• Season to taste and sprinkle some minced parsley on top of the octopus and shrimp balls.
• And they’re ready to enjoy!

If you like traditional cooking and stews, we suggest trying the lovely onion-braised octopus with rustic mashed potatoes or our special octopus lasagna recipe.

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