Octopus and pasta
Greek recipe for octopus in a tomato sauce and small shaped pasta, baked in the oven.
Servings: 4 people
Ingredients
- 1 frozen whole octopus, thawed approximately 2 pounds
- 2 tbsp water
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/2 cup (125 mL) olive oil
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 1 celery stalk, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, slivered
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 3/4 cup (180 mL) red wine
- 1 1/2 cups (375 mL) tomato sauce
- 1 pound small dry pasta
- 2 cups (500 mL) water
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
Instructions
- To begin you must first prepare your octopus. Place your defrosted octopus in a large pot with 2 bay leaves and 2 tablespoons of water. Heat over medium heat, covered. The octopus will release water and will cook in the liquid it releases.
- Check your octopus after 20 - 30 minutes. It is ready when it is fork tender, meaning that a fork can be inserted very easily into one of the tentacles, or in the space between where the tentacle meets the head.
- After your octopus has cooled enough to handle you can remove some of the dark film that will cover its body; this is optional but we tend to do this. Next, ensure that the beak of the octopus has been removed. The beak is found at the base of where the tentacles begin. It is black and resembles a bird's beak and must be removed.
- Next, cut the octopus tentacles into nugget size pieces. Cut the head into bite size pieces. Set aside.
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- In a clean large pot heat the olive oil and saute the onion, celery and garlic until softened. Add in the cinnamon sticks and the bay leaves you used when you boiled the octopus. Stir regularly so that you don't burn the garlic.
- Next to the pot add the red wine, tomato sauce and water. If you have any of the liquid that your octopus released when it was cooked, you can use that to replace some of the regular water. Add the salt and pepper. Mix and cook over medium heat for approximately 5 minutes.
- Grease the bottom of your baking pan with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. You should use a 9 x 14 inch rectangular baking pan or a round baking pan that can hold 14 - 15 cups (or 3 1/2 to 3 3/4 quarts).
- Pour your tomato sauce mixture into the baking pan and stir in the uncooked pasta. Stir well. Place the octopus pieces evenly on top of the pasta and cover your baking pan.
- Bake in the middle rack of your oven for approximately 30 minutes or until your pasta is cooked. Check your meal midway through the cooking time and add more water if required.
- Enjoy!
Notes
You may need to add more water to the baking pan depending on your pasta. If you prefer your meal to be more saucy, add more water. If you prefer it drier then add only as much water as would be needed to be sure that your pasta is cooked.