Braised Octopus....20,000 Leagues Under The Sea!!

It is strange how some movies stay in the minds of children at the age of 10! I remember my parents taking me to see this movie in 1954 "20,000 Leagues Under The Sea" a Walt Disney film, basically for children, but  for grown up science fiction lovers as well.

Just for fun I would like to share with you the trailer to this movie in order to remind you of old times and of the fight against the giant squid Captain Nemo and his crew had aboard the Nautilus.      




In our case, it is a 2.5 kg Octopus caught in the depths of the Indian Ocean.!

In Mediterranean countries, octopus is very much eaten as "meze" . There are many ways to prepare it and one of them is braised with red wine and oregano which I would like to share with you today.

You will need:
Serves 6 as a meze.
-  2.5 kg of deep frozen and cleaned octopus as shown in pictures 1 and 2 thawed completely, and thoroughly washed again with lots of running water.
-  Cut the 8 tentacles from their base as attached to the head.  Slice the head.

Fig. 2 Full Picture of the Octopus
including the head.
 Fig. 1  You Can Count The 8 Tentacles
Of An Octopus











-  1/2 cup olive oil
-  1 onion cut in quarters.
-  1 tsp. dried oregano
-  1 tsp. dried thyme.
-  3 bay leaves.
-  1 cup red wine.
-  1/2 cup vinegar.
-  Definitely no salt but some chili and pepper to taste if you wish.
Note: when buying the frozen octopus from the super market, make sure it is not packed with salt.
Method:
-  Add Octopus to pot on medium fire, add the vinegar, cover for 30 minutes until it expels its liquids.
-  Open cover, add origano, thyme, bay leaves, oil, onion, and wine, bring to a boil, cover and let simmer for one hour or till the the thickest parts of the tentacles are tender.
-  Serve on platter shown on fig. 3

Fig. 3 When cooked, The Tentacles Tend To Curl, The Sliced
Head Remains The Same.
In the meantime:
-  You have boiled the pasta of your choice (usually bow ties), strained them and add them to the sauce.
as shown in fig. 4.
Fig. 4  Pasta (bow ties)
which have soaked up
the produced sau
Serve with dry white or red wine.
-  If you insist, add freshly grated parmezan. On fish based pasta dishes it is not customary to add grated cheese.
-  If you have eaten octopus before, great! If not, but you still like the taste and the smell of the sea, you will love it. If you do not like seafood, then forget it.
Bon Appétit,
Stelio

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