Grilled Octopus is not something commonly found in the restaurants of Northumberland! As yet I have only come across it on one occasion in restaurants in Tuscany but perhaps we need to get out more!! Anyway, octopus has the reputation of being tough and chewy unless it is treated correctly.
Tradition has it that Greek fishermen “thrash” the octopus over the rocks 40 times before cooking it to tenderise it – I have certainly seen them doing that, though I didn’t count the number of times. I have also read of a women in the United States who “double bagged” an octopus and put it in the tumble dryer to tenderise it – but the less said of that the better! The most usual way however appears to be to simmer in a pan for an hour – and then get down to the grilling!!
Being on holiday we took the easy route as soon as we found a ready “simmered” Octopus in the supermarket (not something you regularly “fall across” in the Co-op, or Waitrose for that matter, in the UK!!) So no simmering for us – merely open the pack and prepare for the grill!!
……….delicious!
Grilled Octopus
Grilled octopus
Ingredients
- Fresh or precooked prepared octopus
- Olive oil
- Salt
- Lemon
Directions
- Step 1 If using freshly prepared octopus this will need to be precooked by simmering in salted water for about 1 hour and allowed to cool. This recipe used precooked octopus
- Step 2 Divide the cooled octopus into individual tentacles and slices the head into bitesized pieces
- Step 3 Drizzle with love oil and salt
- Step 4 Put onto a hot grill (dome temp around 180-200C) for around 10 minutes until they started to char a little.
- Step 5 Remove and allow to rest for 5 mins
- Step 6 Serve simply with lemon, more salt and a little more olive oil on a green salad
Looking forward to trying this on our KJ or perhaps a wood-fired oven – looks like short and hot is the key. Are there any seasonal effects on supply?
Hi Alyson – yes I think short and hot is the answer! I am still having difficulty finding a regular supply of octopus in the UK so not sure about the seasonality – There is another post on its way – taking raw fresh octopus and preparing that – it included a freezing phase which perhaps opens the opportunity for frozen octopus in the UK – if you do some do post a picture!