Paul's [recipe] Corner

From Ep 1 Food Trail Tasmania

Steamed octopus from Stanley seafoods
I got the octopus fresh out of their steamer/pressure cooker and it was fantastic – they call it pour mans lobster and in some ways it did taste like lobster but it was octopus and fantastic. I sliced it slightly chunky for this salad. You could use pickled octopus if you want.

One bulb of fennel
A radicchio lettuce
Cherry tomatoes – roasted in the oven with oil and salt until they just start to break down
Baby rocket leaves
Vinaigrette: olive oil, lemon juice, dijon mustard salt and pepper all beaten together
Hummus – you can use store bought or make your own I made my own:
One can of chickpeas
2 cloves of garlic
A little less than half a cup of Tahini paste – careful which one you buy as the darker Tahini pastes can also be quite bitter
Juice of 2 lemons
Salt and pepper

Put chick peas in a blender, reserving the liquid form the can. Puree the chick peas using some of the reserved can liquid so as to help the chick peas to break down. Add garlic, and most of the Tahini paste and lemon juice. Continue to blend and taste as you go along so as to get the right balance between the Tahini and the lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Assemble Salad:

Place some hummus in the middle of your plate or bowl – about 1 -2 tablespoons. Place some thinly sliced fennel and radicchio around the hummus. Place slices of octopus on top. Toss baby rocket through vinaigrette and then tower on top of octopus. Scatter tomatoes over salad and then drizzle extra vinaigrette over so it soaks down to the fennel.