Warm Seafood Salad with Nervia Valley Beans, Italian-Style

Prep. time: 30 minutes + 2 hours waiting time. Cooking time: About 2 hours.

Method

Preparing the seafood

1. Remove the heads from 8 of the 12 prawns and shell all the tails, being careful not to remove the heads from the 4 whole prawns.
2. Remove all the rings, leaving on the bottom part of the shell attached to the tail. Carefully arrange the prawns on a baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.
3. Prepare a court-bouillon for cooking the octopus: into a stainless steel pot, place the 2 lemons, halved and squeezed, the thyme, bay leaf, some peppercorns, the spirit vinegar, a handful of coarse grey sea salt and a cork. Bring to a boil.
4. Add the cleaned octopus to the court-bouillon, move the pot to the edge of the burner and let cook for 20 to 30 minutes at a simmer. Check for doneness with a trussing needle.
5. Remove the pot from the heat and let the octopus cool in the broth. Drain, cut the tentacles into 1.5 cm (1/2") lengths and cover with oil from very ripe olives. Add the peeled halved degermed garlic cloves and the sprig of rosemary and set aside in a cool place.
6. Rinse the small squid and drain on a clean dry towel.
7. Cover the clams with cold salt water and leave for two hours in a cool place.
8. Clean the white calamari meat, cut into large triangles and score the outer surface evenly with a sharp knife, being careful not to cut all the way through. Set aside in a cool place.

Cooking the beans

1. Shell the fresh beans. Place them in a pot, cover them generously with cold water and bring to a boil. Skim the surface, add the sage leaves, rosemary sprig and white peppercorns tied in a piece of cheesecloth. Simmer for about one hour. Add some salt three-quarters of the way through the cooking time.

Cooking the seafood

1. Drain the pieces of octopus.
2. In a sauté pan, heat a drizzle of olive oil and sear the calamari, small squid and clams. Deglaze with the white wine, cover and cook.
3. When the clams have opened up, drain the contents of the sauté pan through a strainer placed over a saucepan to catch all the liquid.
4. Reduce this liquid by half and when it reaches the desired consistency, neither too liquid nor too thick, whisk in some oil from very ripe olives.
5. Correct the seasoning, shell 8 clams, reserving the rest in their shells for garnish, and return all the seafood to the reduced cooking liquid.

Finishing and presentation

1. Sear the prawns in a cast iron pan in a little olive oil. Season with a sprinkle of fleur de sel and drain on a stainless rack.
2. Drain the beans and remove the aromatic garnish. Add the tomato confit and chopped basil leaves, then season everything with a drizzle of aged wine vinegar and some oil from very ripe olives.
3. Add a few drops of lemon juice to the seafood, combine the seafood and bean mixtures together in one bowl and refrigerate.
4. Mix everything gently, add some Espelette chili powder and correct the seasoning.
5. When everything is cool, but not too cold, divide it attractively among serving plates. Add the "riquette" leaves, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with a little fleur de sel and give a generous grinding of fresh pepper. Serve immediately.