Preparation Instructions

1. Place a pot over medium heat.
2. Add the oil and shallots and cook for about 4 minutes until slightly translucent.
3. Toss in the butternut squash and let them sauté for 6–7 minutes until lightly caramelized.
4. Season with salt and pepper.
5. Add the carnaroli rice and stir for 1 minute.
6. Add 2 cups of the chicken stock and stir until the liquid has absorbed.
7. Once the liquid is absorbed, add another 2 cups of the chicken stock.
8. Continue this process until all of the chicken stock is absorbed.
9. Add the butter, mascarpone and Parmigiano-Reggiano, turn off the heat, and stir the risotto until smooth and creamy.
10. Top the risotto with the fresh sage and serve

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We are fortunate that we live in the Western Suburbs of Chicago and we have numerous sources for almost any fresh ingredient you could want. One thing our family often craves is my grilled octopus and fresh seafood salads, which are famous in some parts of Chicago. One way to prepare octopus is to boil it until it is tender and then to lightly grill it or put it under the broiler.

You should always tenderize your octopus before cooking it. In Italy the fishermen beat the octopus against the rocks by the ocean before cooking it. Since we use fresh octopus, some say the easiest way to tenderize a fresh octopus is to beat the living daylights out of it with a blunt object, but most octopus sold in the US have been previously frozen. In this case no tenderizing is really necessary, but you can still use your meat tenderizer if you want too.

Many Chefs add a few wine corks to the cooking pot and it is said to tenderize the octopus. We added this step to our recipe, but it is not required.

After your octopus is cooked, just drizzle a light citrus vinaigrette or a little extra virgin olive oil. Our octopus can be eaten as an appetizer or as an entrée (like many of my Seafood Platters) or it can be chopped into pieces as part of a delicious seafood salad.

Grilled Octopus recipe:

2 Pound Octopus

2 Wine Corks

1 Cup White Wine

1 Lemon, Sliced in half

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 Cloves of Minced Garlic

Fresh Chopped Parsley

Sea Salt to taste

Cracked Black Pepper to taste

Put the octopus in a saucepan large enough for it, add half of the lemon, a few wine corks and a cup of white wine. Add just enough water to cover the octopus and then cover with a lid. Heat on your stove on high but once boiling reduce the heat to a simmer. Make sure you cook the bottom of the octopus so it is tender when pierced by a fork. Turn off the burner and than just allow the octopus to cool in the water to room temperature.

Remove the tentacles from the head and if you want, cut the head into pieces as well. Drizzle the octopus pieces with a lightly cover of Olive Oil. You can than heat up the grill or broiler and cook until the edges begin to crisp and brown (be careful not burn). Drizzle on a little more olive oil, squeeze lemon on top, sprinkle with chopped parsley and minced garlic. Then just season with salt and pepper and enjoy.

Buon Appetito!

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