Squid ink pizza with fried octopus and tartar sauce
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.
Ingredients
Metric
Imperial
Pizza base
Fried octopus
- 700g of baby octopus
- 350ml of whole milk, plus more to submerge the octopus
- 1 egg
- 400g of plain flour
- 1 tbsp of corn starch
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 pinch of salt
- 1l vegetable oil, plus more as needed for frying
Tomato sauce
- 20ml of olive oil
- 1 red onion, finely diced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tins of chopped tomatoes
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- salt and pepper, to taste
Parsley tartar sauce
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 300ml of vegetable oil
- 1 handful of fresh parsley
- 1 small shallot, finely diced
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 60g of pickles, diced
- 1 tbsp of capers
- salt and pepper, to taste
Garnish
- 2 tbsp of capers
- 1 bunch of fresh parsley, roughly chopped
- flaky sea salt
Equipment
- pizza oven
- pizza peel
Method
Prepare the sourdough pizza base two days ahead of cooking
Whisk the sugar, yeast and squid ink into the water, then whisk in the sourdough starter
- 400ml of water
- 1/2 tsp cane sugar
- 7g of fast-action dried yeast
- 50g of squid ink
- 25g of sourdough starter, ripe
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
Knead until the dough is elastic and smooth, around 10 minutes
Transfer the dough to a clean bowl and cover with cling film
Set aside at room temperature and leave to proof for 2 hours, or until the dough has almost doubled in size
After 2 hours, divide the dough into two pieces
Wrap in cling film and leave to rise in the fridge for 2 days
For the fried baby octopus, begin by cutting out the eyes, beak and pulling out the guts
- 700g of baby octopus
Rinse under running water then add them to a large bowl along with the milk and egg
- 350ml of whole milk, plus more to submerge the octopus
- 1 egg
Cover the bowl with cling film and leave them in the fridge for 30 minutes
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
Once fragrant, add in the garlic and cook for a couple of minutes
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
Add in the tinned tomatoes and cook down for 10 minutes, then add in the oregano and season to taste with salt and pepper
- 2 tins of chopped tomatoes
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- salt and pepper, to taste
For the tartar sauce, add the egg yolks, mustard and lemon juice to a bowl
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 lemon, juiced
Whisk them together then, while whisking, drizzle in the vegetable oil in a continuous stream
- 300ml of vegetable oil
Once the oil has emulsified, add in the chopped parsley, shallot, garlic, pickles and capers
- 1 handful of fresh parsley
- 1 small shallot, finely diced
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 60g of pickles, diced
- 1 tbsp of capers
Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed
- salt and pepper, to taste
For the octopus, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt
- 400g of plain flour
- 1 tbsp of corn starch
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 pinch of salt
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
Toss and coat each octopus in the flour mix, then fry each one for around 10 minutes or until golden and crispy
Drain on a plate covered with paper towel, and season with salt
Next, prepare the pizza oven for cooking the pizza and dust a pizza peel with semolina
- semolina, for dusting
Lightly flour a surface for shaping the pizza dough
Use your fingertips to flatten the middle of the dough, gently pushing it out and creating a crust as you go
Lift the dough onto the back of your hands, then use the weight of the dough to gently stretch it out even more
Place the dough onto the dusted pizza peel, then top with the tomato sauce and a tablespoon of capers
- 1 handful of mozzarella cheese
Cook for 2–3 minutes in the pizza oven, turning every minute, until the dough is cooked through. Remove then repeat for the other pizza
- 1 handful of chopped chives
- 1 handful of pickled green chillies
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
- flaky sea salt
- 1 bunch of fresh parsley, roughly chopped
- 2 tbsp of capers
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