Canarian octopus stew

There are spoon dishes that are magical, dishes that take you back to childhood and to grandma's home cooking. This rancho canario that I bring you today is one of them, a simple spoon dish and, although the best-known version is made with meat, I love the octopus version. It is a typical preparation from the Canary Islands, a humble yet truly delicious dish.

Originally meats were not added and this thick soup was simply made with noodles, chickpeas and potato; all of it, of course, well seasoned. If it's already delicious like that, imagine once the meats and chorizo were added, an absolute madness.

On the other hand, as you can imagine these stews require patience and a lot of time, and since nowadays we're always in a hurry, I've prepared the express version for you, uncomplicated, which you can have ready in half an hour so you don't have to give up delights like my octopus rancho canario.

Ingredients (for 6 people)

• 400 gr cooked chickpeas
• 200 gr cooked octopus (2-3 octopus legs depending on size)*
• 500 gr peeled potatoes cut into large chunks
• 150 gr thick noodles no.4
• 1 onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• 2 grated tomatoes
• 3 sprigs of parsley
• a pinch of saffron threads
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 cayenne pepper (optional)
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Salt
• Pepper
• Approximately 1.5 liters of water

Cocotte redonda Evolution Le Creuset, platos redondos de porcelana Revol and mortero cerámico Emile Henry

Preparation:

1. We chop in our picadora manual Ingenio 1 garlic clove and the peeled onion cut into 8. We sweat it in the Le Creuset casserole with 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil.
2. Once softened we add the grated tomatoes, cook until the tomato water has evaporated well, add the teaspoon of paprika, the saffron threads, the cumin and the cayenne, stir and add the potatoes cut into large chunks. We cover with water and cook for 10 minutes.
3. We cut the octopus legs with the help of scissors into slices not too thick. Set aside. – *If the octopus is vacuum-packed it is important to keep the jelly that comes in the container and if it is cooked at home a small cup of cooking broth; we will use both to flavor the stew-*.
4. In a mortar, I use the ceramic one from Emile Henry, we crush the leaves from the parsley sprigs along with another garlic clove and a pinch of salt until we get a paste. Set aside.
5. Once the 10 minutes of cooking have passed we add to the stew the chickpeas, the octopus, the noodles, the octopus broth or jelly and the crushed mixture we made. If necessary we add more water. We cook until the noodles are ready, about 20 minutes.
6. We adjust salt and pepper and let rest a few minutes.
7. Serve hot.

Cocotte redonda Evolution Le Creuset

The original rancho recipe is prepared with meat but with octopus it is a true delight. Don't fail to prepare it and adapt it to your tastes; remember that ultimately the base of this stew is potatoes, noodles and chickpeas.

Save it for those family meal days when what you most crave is a comforting spoon dish, and if you decide to make the slow version you'll need to soak the chickpeas the night before, cook the octopus separately and adapt the cooking times. Although if you want I can prepare the meat version for you with plenty of time and a long simmer.

Enjoy!

Loreto