Octopus Stifado

Name: Octopus Stifado (Octopus with Onions & Red Wine)
Yield: Serves 6
Cuisine: Greece
Ingredients: 375 ml (1½ cups) red wine; 2 bay leaves; 3 garlic cloves, chopped; 450 g (1 lb) tin peeled tomatoes, roughly chopped; 1 cinnamon stick; a few allspice (pimento) berries; 1 small dried red chilli, chopped; a pinch of grated nutmeg; 1.5 kg (3 lb 5 oz) whole octopus (preferably with thick tentacles); 1 tablespoon sugar; 3 tablespoons good-quality red wine vinegar; 140 ml (5 fl oz) olive oil; 1 kg (2 lb 4 oz) small stewing onions, peeled and left whole

Octopus with Onions & Red Wine

Preparation info

Serves
6

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Falling Cloudberries

By Tessa Kiros

Published 2004

About

This is a rich octopus and baby onion stew with red wine and spices. The same dish is also often made using rabbit or beef instead of the octopus (the cooking technique will vary slightly). It is important to let this dish sit for at least half an hour before serving as the onions will continue to cook in the hot casserole.

Ingredients

1.5 kg (3 lb 5 oz) whole octopus (preferably with thick tentacles)

Europe
Greece
Fish course
Pescatarian
Gluten-free
Mediterranean

Method

Cut the head off the octopus just below the eyes. Remove the beak by pushing it out through the centre of the tentacles. Cut the eyes from the head by slicing off a small round. Remove the intestines by pushing them out of the head. Rinse the head and tentacles thoroughly and cut up into chunks of about 3 cm

Ingredients

Method

Photos