Grilled Octopus with Potato Cream

🧾 General Information

• Category: Seafood Main Course
• Servings: 4
• Food cost target: 28–35%
• Service time: 6 minutes
• Difficulty: Medium

⚖️ Portion Sizes

• Cooked octopus: 180 g
• Potato cream: 80 g
• Extra virgin olive oil: 5 ml
• Parsley: as needed
• Sweet or smoked paprika: as needed

🧾 Total Ingredients (4 servings)

Octopus

• 1.2 kg whole octopus
• 1 celery stalk
• 1 carrot
• 1 white onion
• 1 bay leaf
• black peppercorns

Potato Cream

• 400 g potatoes
• 100 ml milk
• 20 g butter
• 20 ml extra virgin olive oil
• salt
• pepper

Finishing

• fresh parsley
• sweet or smoked paprika
• extra virgin olive oil

⚙️ Base Preparation (Prep)

Octopus

• Cook the octopus in aromatic water with celery, carrot, onion and bay leaf.
• Cool in its cooking liquid.
• Portion the tentacles.
• Store at +4°C until service.

Potato Cream

• Boil the potatoes.
• Blend with milk, butter and oil.
• Adjust with salt and pepper.
• Keep warm or ready to reheat.

👨‍🍳 Service Procedure

1. Grill the octopus until the surface becomes crispy.
2. Reheat the potato cream.
3. Spread the potato cream on the plate.
4. Arrange the octopus over the cream.
5. Finish with paprika, parsley and extra virgin olive oil.
6. Serve immediately.

🔑 Critical Control Points (CCP)

• Octopus: avoid overcooking during boiling.
• Grill: must be very hot.
• Cream: smooth and lump-free.
• Balance: the dish should remain soft with contrasting textures.

🍽️ Plating

• White rectangular plate.
• Potato cream spread evenly.
• Tentacles arranged naturally with movement.
• Finish with:
  • fresh parsley
  • paprika
  • drizzle of olive oil

Premium Option

• black olive powder
• potato chips
• parsley emulsion

🛠️ Recommended Professional Equipment

All the equipment listed is available for purchase on Ristorazione-Refrigerazione.it.

• Blast chiller for rapid cooling.
• Professional griddle or lava stone grill.
• Cutter or professional blender for smooth potato cream.
• Induction plate for quick reheating.

💰 Estimated Food Cost

• Cost per portion: ~€2.37
• Recommended selling price: €16–22 depending on the venue

🔄 Menu Adaptability

• Premium bistro: iconic seafood main course.
• Mid-range restaurant: elegant and recognizable dish.
• Gourmet: ideal base for additional premium preparations.

🧠 Professional Logic

Dish designed for:

• strong visual impact
• advance preparation
• high premium perception

Final quality depends on octopus cooking, grill crispness and potato cream texture.