Octopus With Ouzo
A Greek octopus recipe that's easy to make and tasty to eat.
Ingredients
- 1 medium octopus sack and beak removed, and each tentacle cut (watch video above for guidance if needed)
- ½ cup olive oil
- 1 onion chopped
- 1 shallot chopped
- 2 garlic cloves diced
- 1 cup chopped tomatoes
- ½ cup ouzo if you're not an ouzo lover, reduce amount
- 1 bay leaf
- ½ teaspoon oregano
- ½ cup kalamata olives or Greek olive mix either cut in halves or whole - up to you
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 cup water*
Instructions
- Heat a soup pot over medium-high heat and add olive oil.
- Once hot, add onion, shallots, and garlic. Cook until onions/shallots are soft, about 5 minutes.
- Now, add octopus. Cover and reduce heat to low. Let octopus cook until soft and a little chewy, about 30 minutes. The octopus should expel a lot of water and shrink down in size. Don’t worry, this is good.
- After about 30 minutes, add in tomatoes, ouzo, bay leaf, and oregano.
- Cook slightly covered for another 35 minutes, or until octopus is tender.**
- During last few minutes of cooking, add kalamata olives.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste. Taste first, as it will be naturally salty from the octopus so adjust accordingly.
- Serve!
Notes
*Water is only needed if too much evaporates while cooking.
** During this cooking time is where you'll add the extra water if needed.
***Cooking octopus can be a bit tricky in terms of times, so make sure you're always checking the pot. Sometimes it will need 30 minutes, other times it may need less.
** During this cooking time is where you'll add the extra water if needed.
***Cooking octopus can be a bit tricky in terms of times, so make sure you're always checking the pot. Sometimes it will need 30 minutes, other times it may need less.