Grilled Octopus / Khtapothi Sti Skhara Recipe
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Category: |
Category: |
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Ingredients: |
Ingredients:
2 pounds octopus, , cleaned, trimmed
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar, or more to taste
2 tablespoons lemon juice, fresh
2 teaspoons oregano, dried, preferably Greek
1 teaspoon salt, coarse (kosher or sea), or more to taste
1/2 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground
6 to 8 tablespoons olive oil, extra-virgin
1/4 cup parsley, chopped fresh Italian (flat-leaf)
Lemon wedges, for serving
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Directions: |
Directions:1. Preheat the grill to high.
2. Using a paring knife, peel or scrape any reddish skin off the octopus. (You probably wont need to do this, as most octopus comes already cleaned.) Leave the legs whole, but cut the body in quarters. Rinse the octopus under cold running water, then drain and blot dry with paper towels.
3. When ready to cook, oil the grill grate. Arrange the octopus pieces on the hot grate and grill, turning with tongs, until nicely charred (but not quite burnt) on all sides, 3 to 6 minutes per side, (6 to 12 minutes in all).
4. Transfer the octopus to a cutting board and cut it into bite-size pieces. Place the pieces in a serving bowl.
5. Combine 2 tablespoons vinegar, the lemon juice, oregano, 1 teaspoon salt, the pepper, oil, and parsley in a small bowl and whisk to mix, then pour over the octopus and toss to coat. Let marinate for at least 5 minutes and up to 30 (the octopus can be served warm or at room temperature). Taste for seasoning, adding salt or vinegar as necessary; the octopus should be highly seasoned. Serve accompanied by lemon wedges for squeezing. |
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Number Of
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Number Of
Servings:4-6 |
Personal
Notes: |
Personal
Notes: If I were to pick the quintessential taste of the Greek islands, it would be this popular mezze (appetizer). Octopus is one of those foods that seems to have been put on earth expressly for grilling: The fire brings out the sweetness of the delicate white meat, which in turn absorbs the flavors of the olive oil, oregano, and charcoal without surrendering its own. The cleaning and tenderizing of an octopus can be an intimidating process: Fortunately, virtually all the octopus sold in North America is cleaned and tenderized already. This leaves you with the easy task of grilling the octopus (preferably over charcoal) until nicely charred on all sides, without quite being burnt. Octopus is available frozen at Greek markets, Japanese markets, and specialty seafood shops. Squid or shrimp could be prepared in a similar fashion.
This recipe is unusual in the world of grilled seafood in that the octopus is grilled dry, then marinated. Serve with New Greek Salad.
Ivan tried this once. It came hard. Trick is to get octopus soft!! Not sure how till I try it again.
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