One of the most classic Christmas Eve appetizers: octopus and potato salad, which we pair with Trento Riserva 1673 2016 Cesarini Sforza.
Ingredients for 4 persons:
1 approximately 1 kg fresh octopus, 4 medium potatoes, 1 celery stick (optional), 1 lemon (the juice), 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, 1 clove of garlic. 1 tuft of fresh parsley, salt and pepper to taste.
Proceedings
It is best to have the octopus cleaned by the fishmonger. Otherwise, rinse it under running water and remove the guts, eyes and beak. Wash it well.
Bring a large pot with plenty of salted water to a boil and, according to a popular tradition, add a cork to make the octopus more tender (I don’t know if this is true, I do).
Dip the octopus in the boiling water for a few seconds, take it out and repeat 2-3 times to curl the tentacles. Then cook the octopus for about 40-50 minutes, depending on size, until tender (check with a fork).Once cooked, let it cool in its water to keep it soft.
Preparation of potatoes
While the octopus is cooking, wash and boil the potatoes in salted water until soft. Drain them, let them cool, peel and cut them into cubes.
Salad preparation
Once cold, cut the octopus into small pieces.
In a large bowl, combine the octopus, potatoes, and thinly sliced celery.
Prepare an emulsion with extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, finely chopped parsley, crushed garlic, salt and pepper.
Remove the garlic, pour the emulsion over the octopus and stir gently.
Rest and service
Let the salad rest in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. Then remove from the refrigerator and serve at room temperature, decorating with a few leaves of fresh parsley.
Wine pairing:
Trento Riserva 1673 2016 Cesarini Sforza
Straw yellow color with abundant, fine and persistent perlage. Delicate and fine on the nose, good complexity, with perceptions of unripe plum, citrus and fresh hazelnut. Consistent, flavorful and very fresh, rich and deep, with long citrus finish.
Production area: the most vocated high altitude vineyards of the Cembra Valley. The pronounced temperature range between day and night, mitigated by the Ora del Garda that channels into the Valley, and the optimal exposure (south, southeast) contribute to perfect ripening of the grapes and concentration of the typical aromas in the grapes. The’titudine of the vineyards is 550-640 meters, and the soil composition is porphyritic sands, loose, subalkaline-reacting.
Grapevine: 100% Chardonnay. Breeding by simple Trentino pergola, guyot. Planting density 5,000 vines/ha.
Harvest: Manual harvest between late August and the first decade of September.
Production processes: Soft pressing of whole grapes in the vertical marmonier press. Static decantation of the musts is then carried out and fermentation of only the must bloom at controlled temperature in stainless steel tanks. Aging on yeast lysis continues for at least 7 months. Drawing, carried out no earlier than June, is followed by re-fermentation in the bottle and a stay on the lees for 70 months.
Yield: 45 hl/ha
Alcohol content: 12.5% vol.
Serving temperature:
8°C.
