Tielle Sétoise

Typical dish from Sète: Octopus Pie

This is a spicy octopus pie that originates from Sète and is available in all supermarkets, small shops and bakeries around Sete or you can make your own!. It is a sort of octopus ragout in dough, with a delicious golden crust. Tielles have a strong taste of fish a bit like sardines in tomato sauce. 

This was a very proud baker on our trip out to Pézenas.... and  yes they are delicious!

Here is the recipe

• Cook the octopus in a large pot of boiling salted water with some vinegar or some bouillon, until it is tender (45 minutes). Drain, rinse with cold water, peel the skin off and chop it into slightly smaller than bite-size pieces.

• Make the dough. Use some plain flour, olive oil, cold water and a pinch of salt. The dough will be similar to shortcrust pastry. But some people prefer to make it similar to bread dough, for example with yeast
• Heat up the filling. Mix the squid with some olive oil, chopped onions, herbs (bay leaf, rosemary, fennel bulb), spices (black pepper, salt, fresh hot chilli), chopped garlic, tomato paste, hot water and dry white wine. Cook until the filling becomes thick.
• Assemble the tielles. Roll the dough into 12-centimetre disks and put them in tart pans. Prick the dough with a fork, spread some octopus ragout over each pan, cover with the remaining disks and pinch down the edges. Make a small slit in each top with a knife. To make it prettier, spread a glaze of egg yolk, tomato paste and olive oil on the crust.
• Bake the tielles, at about 200C until golden, for 30 minutes.

Enjoy!