Octopus Salad - cooking recipe

Ingredients

5 lbs baby octopus
salt
2 cups finely chopped celery
1/2 - 3/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup olive oil
1/3 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon fresh basil leaf, snipped
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
15 pitted california black olives
5 garlic cloves, sliced
fresh ground black pepper

Preparation

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the octopus to the water, two at a time. When the water returns to a boil, remove the octopus and set aside to cool. Repeat with the remaining octopus.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add salt. Add the octopus and simmer until the meat is tender, 20 to 40 minutes. Drain and chill under cold running water. Cut off any non-fleshy parts including the \"beak\" and discard. Cut into bite-size pieces.
Put the octopus pieces in a large bowl and add the celery, lemon juice, olive oil, parsley, basil, red pepper flakes, olives, garlic and salt and pepper to taste. Toss to blend and let stand 1 hour.