Title: Octopus with Garlic - Polipi Veraci All'aglio
Categories: Seafood Italian
Yield: 6 Servings

2		Octopus (about 1 1/2 pounds each)
1/4	c	Olive oil
5		Cloves garlic, crushed
1		Bay leaf
1/2	ts	Cumin seeds
		Salt
1	sm	Green pepper, chopped

rosemary leaves and parsley

Cut out the eyes and mouth of the octopus. Remove the ink sac and internal bone. Cut off the tough points in the tentacles. Put each octopus on a board and beat them well to break the fibers and make the meat more tender. Wash them in running water until they are very white; do not dry but put them in an earthen- ware dish and season with oil, flavored with garlic, bay leaf and cumin seeds. Cover the dish tightly with a sheet of waxed paper or foil tied around the top with string. Put the dish over a very low heat between 1 and 2 hours, according to the size of the octopus. When they are tender, drain them, season with additional oil, salt, green pepper, rosemary leaves and parsley. Serve in a tureen.

From "Feast of Italy", translated from the Italian edition published by Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, 1973. Consulting Chef, Giorgio Gioco. Thomas Crowell, New York. ISBN 0-690-00059-6

It doesn't make reference to it in the text, but in the pictures of both these dishes, it shows one or two largish octopi garnished with reseattes of baby octopi tentacles. I imagine you'd do quite well using the 'baby' octopi like those I see sold around here in the supermarkets, or even with squid.

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