Black-eye Pea & Octopus Paccheri

Soak the beans overnight in cold water, then rinse them and drain. Meanwhile, in a large pot, brown a clove of garlic with EVO, adding in the beans and abundant hot water. Allow simmering for at least an hour. Halfway through cooking, add 5 bay leaves and salt. In meantime, in a pressure cooker cook the octopus for ab. 20 minutes. Then drain, let the octopus cool and cut it into chunks. At this point, by using an immersion blender, blend ¾ of the beans along with a ladle of water until you get a smooth purée. Right after, in a pan, heat some EVO and fry the remaining garlic for a couple of minutes, then, stir in the octopus and a couple of tablespoons of bean purée, letting cook for 5 minutes over low flame. In the meantime, cook the Paccheri in boiling salted water, draining them with a skimmer when still very “al dente”. Then, add them to the octopus and bean sauce with a few tablespoons of their cooking water, also adding in the remaining purée. Bring it to a boil, adding more water if necessary and cook for 4-5 minutes more. Dress with salt and black pepper and stir well. Top with a couple of bay leaves, a drizzle of EVO, the remaining whole beans and serve.