Squid ink pizza with fried octopus and tartar sauce

5.00

This dramatic, black squid ink pizza is topped with crispy deep-fried octopus, tart capers and plenty of tartar sauce for dipping. It is about as far from a plain margherita as you can get, and a really fun one to serve at a party. If you don't have a pizza oven, this can also be made in a regular oven preheated for an hour at its highest setting. The pizza will take about 10–15 minutes to cook.

First published in 2024

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Pizza base

Fried octopus

Tomato sauce

Parsley tartar sauce

Garnish

Equipment

  • pizza oven
  • pizza peel

Method

1

Prepare the sourdough pizza base two days ahead of cooking 

2

Whisk the sugar, yeast and squid ink into the water, then whisk in the sourdough starter 

3

Add in the strong bread flour along with the salt and stir well with a wooden spoon until you have a rough, shaggy dough

  • 550g of white bread flour
  • 7g of salt
4

Knead until the dough is elastic and smooth, around 10 minutes 

5

Transfer the dough to a clean bowl and cover with cling film 

6

Set aside at room temperature and leave to proof for 2 hours, or until the dough has almost doubled in size

7

After 2 hours, divide the dough into two pieces

8

Wrap in cling film and leave to rise in the fridge for 2 days

9

For the fried baby octopus, begin by cutting out the eyes, beak and pulling out the guts 

10

Rinse under running water then add them to a large bowl along with the milk and egg

11

Cover the bowl with cling film and leave them in the fridge for 30 minutes

12

To make the tomato sauce, heat the oil over a medium heat then add in the red onion

  • 20ml of olive oil
  • 1 red onion, finely diced
13

Once fragrant, add in the garlic and cook for a couple of minutes 

14

Add in the tinned tomatoes and cook down for 10 minutes, then add in the oregano and season to taste with salt and pepper

15

For the tartar sauce, add the egg yolks, mustard and lemon juice to a bowl 

16

Whisk them together then, while whisking, drizzle in the vegetable oil in a continuous stream 

  • 300ml of vegetable oil
17

Once the oil has emulsified, add in the chopped parsley, shallot, garlic, pickles and capers 

18

Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed

19

For the octopus, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt 

20

Heat the vegetable oil in a large pot over medium heat until it reaches 180°C

  • 1l vegetable oil, plus more as needed for frying
21

Toss and coat each octopus in the flour mix, then fry each one for around 10 minutes or until golden and crispy 

22

Drain on a plate covered with paper towel, and season with salt 

23

Next, prepare the pizza oven for cooking the pizza and dust a pizza peel with semolina

  • semolina, for dusting
24

Lightly flour a surface for shaping the pizza dough

25

Use your fingertips to flatten the middle of the dough, gently pushing it out and creating a crust as you go

26

Lift the dough onto the back of your hands, then use the weight of the dough to gently stretch it out even more 

27

Place the dough onto the dusted pizza peel, then top with the tomato sauce and a tablespoon of capers

28

Cook in the pizza oven for around 1 minute, turning every 10 seconds, or until bubbly and cooked through

29

Top with the crispy octopus and sprinkle over a generous amount of flaky salt along with the fresh parsley and capers. Serve with the tartar sauce on the side 

GBC Kitchen is where you'll find accessible, inspiring recipes with a twist, from our in-house team of recipe developers. Perfect for mid-week meals or special occasions alike, GBC Kitchen recipes will help you become a more confident cook, and impress those around you in the meantime! Don't forget to check out our brand new How to Cook guide every month, which focuses on a specific ingredient and ways to use it, alongside four brand new recipes.

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