Wash the octopus thoroughly and place in the pressure cooker with the whole onion, the cloves and the peppercorns. Add 1/3 cup water (so it won’t stick) and boil for 20 minutes from when the cooker starts to whistle.
Open the cooker, remove the octopus and pour away all the liquid. The octopus will have reduced in size, taken on a pink colour and softened. Cut into pieces and put to one side.
Wash and dry the cooker. Add the olive oil, chopped onion and garlic. Let it wither, taking care not to brown.
Add the octopus and bay leaves, and stir to warm through, taking care not to stick to the bottom. Then add the wine and let it reduce until half the quantity of liquid remains.
Add the passata and stir well. Cover and let the food cook for 15 minutes from when the cooker starts to whistle.
Open the cooker, season the octopus lightly with salt and pepper. Serve with rice, pasta or on its own with parsley.
Ingredients
(for 4-6 people):
1 octopus, around 1 and ½ kilos, cleaned (head and ‘hood’)
1 medium onion, peeled + 1 large onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
4 tbsps olive oil
1 cup dry red wine
1 500g packet concentrated tomato juice (passata)
5-6 cloves
1 tsp red peppercorns
2 bay leaves
Salt, pepper, water, finely chopped parsley (optional)
