GREEK OCTOPUS AND RED WINE STEW

This rich, dark red wine and octopus stew begins with the slow cooking of
octopus in its own juices, progressing on to simmer it with tomatoes and
wine. The end result is marvellously tender octopus in a voluptuous sauce.
An ideal dish for anyone who is a little nervous about eating octopus. I bet
you they will end up asking for more.

1 kg (2¼ lb) octopus, cleaned
1 onion, chopped
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves, chopped
400 g (14 oz) tin of chopped tomatoes
1 tablespoon tomato puree
½ - 1 tablespoon caster sugar
1 bay leaf
250 ml (9 fl oz) red wine
salt
pepper

Cut the octopus up into 2.5 cm (1 -inch) pieces. Put them in a pan, cover
and place over a very low heat (a diffuser mat is a great help here). Leave
to cook gently. Raise the lid after a few minutes for a quick peek; you will
be surprised to see the octopus simmering gently in a pool of its own
purple-red juice. Cover it again quickly and leave it alone. Check again
after about 20 minutes and give it a stir, then stir every 5 - 10 minutes.
Very gradually, the octopus’ juices will begin to diminish and become quite
dense and syrupy.
In a clean pan, cook the onion gently in the olive oil until tender. Add the
garlic and cook for a further 2 - 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes, tomato puree,
½ tablespoon of sugar, bay leaf, salt and pepper and the cooked octopus. Set
over a moderate heat.
Pour the wine into the pan you cooked the octopus in and bring up to the
boil, stirring to make sure that not one little drop of the sticky residue
from cooking the octopus is wasted. Tip into the pan of other ingredients.
Bring back to the boil, cover and simmer very gently for about 50 minutes,
until the sauce is voluptiously thick.
Taste and stir in the remaining sugar if it is on the tart side. Adjust the
seasoning. Serve warm, with rice or mall pasta shapes.

Serves 6 generously.

country : Greece
course : main course

source : Fish / Sophie Grigson and William Black



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