Grilled Octopus with Spinach and Smoky Beans

This grilled octopus with spinach and smoky beans will seduce you with the tenderest octopus atop melt-in-your-mouth white beans. Serve as an appetizer or main dish. 

Ten years ago, almost to the day, our eldest daughter graduated from Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, Rhode Island. We celebrated with dinner at a local restaurant named Bácaro, specializing in Italian fare. 

For my appetizer, I ordered their wood-grilled crispy baby octopus which was described thusly: 

 

The dish was so good that we attempted to go back the very next day to have it again. I kid you not. Everyone who had tried mine wanted their own bowl! Unfortunately, the restaurant is only open for dinner Tuesday through Saturday so we were out of luck that Sunday. 

The disappointment was keenly felt. 

For years I've waxed lyrical about that bowl of wonderful smoky beans with the grilled octopus and numerous times, I’ve searched online for a recipe. I even wrote the restaurant and Edible Rhody, a local Providence food and drink magazine, to ask for one. The magazine folks did write back and say they’d try. Sadly, no joy. 

I finally decided it was time to stop dreaming and try to recreate it myself. Final result: Delicious. Was it the same? Probably not but then, it's hard to live up to a dream. 

Grilled Octopus with Spinach and Smoky Beans

This recipe is my attempt to somewhat replicate the flavors I remember. I don’t recall the grilled radicchio with honey and balsamic so I just skipped that part of the description. Please read through the method before starting so you can decide how you will cook the beans. I use a pressure cooker or Instant Pot. 

Ingredients

1 lb 8 oz or 680g octopus

Olive oil

8oz dried navy beans

2 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke

6oz or 170g baby spinach leaves

Parsley for garnish, if desired

Method

Preheat the oven to 220°F or 104°C. 

Clean the octopus well (I empty the head) and remove the beak. 

Heat a large pot of water to boiling. Drop the octopus in and set a timer for 45 seconds. 

When the timer rings, remove the octopus to a colander and drain. 

Transfer the octopus to an ovenproof pot with a tight-fitting lid with just a drizzle of olive oil. 

Put it in the preheated oven, lid on, for two hours. The octopus will create its own braising liquid. Photo after one hour:

Photo after two hours:

If you are cooking the beans in a traditional manner, pour boiling water over them in a metal mixing bowl and cover it with a plate. Leave to soak for one hour. Drain and rinse then cook the beans using your favorite method with the garlic, smoked paprika, salt and liquid smoke. 

Alternatively, DON’T SOAK THE BEANS and follow my instructions here for using a pressure cooker or Instant Pot: 

I can never be bothered to soak dried beans so I use my pressure cooker or Instant Pot. Put the beans in the pot with the other ingredients. Add water to cover twice the level of beans and 1. in a pressure cooker, cook for 30 minutes once the pot gets up to pressure or 2. in an Instant Pot, choose the beans/chili setting, which is also usually 30 minutes. 

In both cases, leave to de-pressurize naturally for at least 10 minutes when cooking time is up. You can cook them a bit longer uncovered to reduce the liquid, if desired. 

Cool and refrigerate the beans until you are ready to grill the octopus and serve. 

When the octopus is tender – you can test this after two hours by inserting a knife into the top of one of the tentacles, just where it joins the body. It should go in easily - start your charcoal or wood fire. Reserve the octopus cooking pot broth for possibly adding to the beans later. 

The coals should be quite hot so you can quickly grill the octopus so it browns and sears without drying out. Put your grill rack about 4 inches from heat source. 

Brush the octopus with olive oil. 

Grill it over the hot coals until the outside is browned but the inside is not dried out, about 8-10 minutes. 

We started tentacles down and turned it over about halfway through.

And by we, throughout this part, I mean my grill guy (best husband!) put the lid on for a couple of the minutes, to let it smoke. 

Turn the octopus over and brush with more olive oil about halfway through.

Cut the octopus apart, leaving the tentacles whole and chopping the head, into bite-sized pieces

Heat the beans in a pot over medium heat till they are bubbling.

Heap the baby spinach in the hot beans and pop the lid on so they wilt. Stir them into the beans. 

For extra flavor (and saltiness), you can add some of the broth left behind in the octopus cooking pot, if desired. I suggest straining it as you do. I'll be honest, I don't remember why but there must have been something in there that I thought we'd be better off without in the beans. 🤷‍♀️

Serve the beans in shallow bowls, topped with a grilled octopus tentacle or two. Garnish with an extra sprinkle of smoked paprika and some parsley, if desired. 

Enjoy! 

It’s Sunday FunDay and today we are sharing seafood recipes to celebrate National Seafood Month or sides that go great with seafood. Many thanks to our host, Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm. Check all the links out below:

• Sue of Palatable Pastime shares Calabrian Chili Pasta with Shrimp
• Amy of Amy's Cooking Adventures serves up Crispy Oven Baked Fries
• Stacy of Food Lust People Love gives us Grilled Octopus with Spinach and Smoky Beans
• Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm made a Pineapple Shrimp Noodle Bowl
• Sneha of Sneha's Recipe cooks Prawn With Vegetable Bafat Without Coconut

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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Lemon Mascarpone Muffins with Jam Mascarpone Topping #MuffinMonday

These lemon mascarpone muffins make the perfect breakfast or snack with their fluffy texture (when baked long enough!) Just perfect with a cup of tea!

Okay, you’ve all seen the photos now. I screwed up. I took the bigger muffins out too soon so they ended up sinking a bit in the middle as they cooled. I learned my lesson though and made sure to leave the mini muffins in for longer and from those I can tell you that they are light and fluffy, as they all should have been. 

I decided to make use of that dip in the tops (and extra mascarpone in the refrigerator) to make a topping which complemented the lemon muffins nicely. 

Use your favorite jam – I had a homemade triple berry one in the fridge – and simply mix it with an equal amount of mascarpone. Delicious!

That said, we've been enjoying the bigger muffins even without the topping. They may not be quite as fluffy but flavorwise, they are winners. 

Lemon Mascarpone Muffins

This batter ended up making 12 normal sized muffins and 12 mini muffins. I’d suggest leaving the big ones in the oven for a minimum of 22 minutes or even 25 if they aren’t browning too much. That allows them to set the rise and not sink as they cool. The mini muffins take 15-17 minutes for the same results.

Ingredients

For the muffin batter:

3/4 cup or 150g granulated sugar

Zest 1 lemon

1 3/4 cups or 220g all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 pinch fine sea salt

Juice 1 lemon (about 2 tablespoons)

Milk added to the lemon juice to make 1 1/2 cups or 355ml  (about 1 1/4 cups)

1 cup or 215g mascarpone cheese

2 eggs

For the jam mascarpone topping: 

1/4 cup or 75g of your favorite jam

1/4 cup or 60g mascarpone

Method

Preheat the oven to 350Ï or 180°C. Grease two muffin pans with canola or other light oil, one 12-cup regular size muffin pan and one 12-cup mini muffin pan. 

Measure the sugar into a large mixing bowl and then zest your lemon into it. Use the back of a spoon to press the zest into the sugar, releasing the lovely oils and flavoring the sugar. The aroma is heavenly! So fresh and bright. 

Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt to the sugar bowl and whisk to combine. 

In another mixing bowl whisk together the milk, mascarpone cheese, lemon juice and eggs until smooth. 

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and fold together until it is just combined.

Divide the batter between your prepared muffin pans. 

Bake the regular muffins for about 22-25 minutes, until they puff up gorgeously and are baked through. 

Bake the mini muffins for 15-17 minutes, again until they are puffed up and baked through. 

Let them cool for 5-10 minutes in the pan. Loosen the edges and sides with a spatula and turn them out onto a rack to cool completely. 

Meanwhile, make the topping by mixing the jam and mascarpone until thoroughly combined. 

Serve alongside the muffins so folks can add a dollop, if desired. 

Enjoy!

It's the last Monday of the month so that means it's time for Muffin Monday! Check out all of the lovely recipes my baker friends are sharing:

• Fresh Mint Muffins with Chocolate Chips from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Lemon Crumb Muffins from Jolene's Recipe Journal
• Lemon Mascarpone Muffins from Food Lust People Love
• Mexican Street Corn Muffins from Palatable Pastime
• Sourdough Lemon Poppy Seed Streusel Muffins from Zesty South Indian Kitchen
• Sweet Potato Muffins with Cinnamon Crunch from Karen's Kitchen Stories

#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all of our lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday can be found on our home page.

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Spinach Madeline Stuffed Potatoes

A favorite in southern Louisiana, spinach Madeline is a cheesy casserole or one-pan side dish. For this version, I used it as a filling to make spinach Madeline stuffed potatoes. Y'all, it's so good! 

One of the first cookbooks I ever received was one called River Road Recipes, published as a fundraiser by the Junior League of Baton Rouge. The very first edition, released in 1959, contained a recipe for Spinach Madeline, a thick and creamy spinach dish flavored with garlic and onion plus, the star of the show, jalapeño cheese. 

Spinach Madeline Stuffed Potatoes

In this version, I used my favorite habanero cheese for even more spiciness but any flavorful cheese will do. These stuffed potatoes can be made ahead and baked to heat through before serving. 

Ingredients

4 smallish Russet potatoes (approx. weight about 10.5 oz or 300g each)

2 (12 oz or 340g) packages frozen chopped spinach

3/4 cup or 180ml water

1/3 cup or 75g butter

4 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons chopped onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/3 cup or 80ml milk

1/4 cup or 60ml cream

7 oz or 200g jalapeño (or habanero) cheese, grated

3/4 teaspoon celery salt

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste

fine sea salt to taste

Method

Preheat the oven to 350°F or 180°C.  

Scrub the potatoes and lightly pierce the skin with a pointy knife. Microwave on high for 6 minutes to get them started, then bake uncovered, directly on the oven rack for 35-40 minutes or until cooked through. If you’d rather not microwave them, cook in the oven for 55-60 minutes or until they are cooked through.

While the potatoes bake, put the frozen spinach and water in a saucepan over high heat; bring to a full boil. 

Reduce heat to medium, cover, and cook for 8 minutes. Separate with a fork and cook for 2 more minutes. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup or 120ml of the cooking liquid.

Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat. Add flour, stirring until blended and smooth, but not brown, 1 to 2 minutes. 

Add the onion and garlic and cook until soft but not brown, 5 to 7 minutes.

Slowly add the milk, cream and the reserved spinach cooking liquid, stirring constantly to avoid lumps. I like to use a whisk for this step.

Cook, stirring constantly, until smooth and thick, 3 to 5 minutes. When you pull the spatula through it, it should be thick enough not to run right back together immediately. 

Add the grated cheese, celery salt, Worcestershire sauce, black pepper and cayenne.

Cook, stirring frequently until the cheese is melted, about 2 to 3 minutes. 

Stir in the cooked spinach and set the mixture aside. (This is the original spinach Madeline now. It was eaten as is, or baked in a casserole dish.) 

When the potatoes are baked, cut them in half lengthwise. When they are cool enough to handle, scoop the insides out. 

Use a potato masher to mash the parts you scooped out. 

Add half of the mashed potatoes to the spinach mixture and mix well. (Save the rest of the potatoes for another dish like silver dollar potato pancakes or mashed potato muffins.) Taste and add salt as needed for your taste. 

Spoon the mixture into the potato skins and bake for 30 minutes to serve.

Enjoy!

It's Sunday FunDay and today my friends and I are sharing side dish recipes for your barbecue or cookout since that season is upon us! Check them out below: 

• 45 Minute Hamburger Buns from Amy’s Cooking Adventures
• Avocado Salad with Fresh Herb Dressing from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Carrot Apple Salad from Mayuri’s Jikoni
• Pressure Cooker Pork Dry from Sneha’s Recipe
• Quinoa Salad with Fennel & Garbanzo Beans from Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
• Spaccatini Rolls from Karen’s Kitchen Stories
• Spinach Madeline Stuffed Potatoes from Food Lust People Love
• Sweet and Tangy Cucumber Salad from Palatable Pastime
• Sweet Potato and Fennel Fronds Salad from Cook with Renu

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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