Htapodi Me Makaronaki Kofto (Stewed Octopus With Macaroni)

evelyn/athens's Note:

This is really quite delicious. If you've never tried octopus, I urge you to. It is meaty and rich-tasting, and the macaroni tastes wonderful cooked in the rich juices it produces.

• Total Time: 1 hrs
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 40 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 2 lbs octopus , thawed if frozen
• 1 cup red wine
• 1 garlic clove , minced
• 1 medium onion , chopped fine
• 1 bay leaf
• ½ cinnamon stick (or 1/2 tsp ground)
• 3 cups diced fresh tomatoes or 3 cups canned tomatoes , diced
• ¼ cup olive oil
• ½ lb elbow macaroni, cooked until still quite al dente (3-4 minutes before you'd normally drain it) or ½ lb similar type like ziti pasta or ½ lb penne
• 1 ½ tablespoons butter

Directions:

1. Rinse the octopus under cold, running water and place in pot dripping wet (you don't want to dry it off - this is the moisture it will cook in).
2. Add the red wine, garlic, onion, bay leaf and cinnamon and cover the pot.
3. Bring to the boil over low heat.
4. It is tender when pierced easily with a fork (this can vary from octopus to octopus, so time is not a good indicator of doneness in this case).
5. Remove the octopus and let cool until cool enough to handle and cut into bite-size pieces.
6. Meanwhile, in pot you have cooked the octopus in, add tomatoes and olive oil. Boil for 8-10 minutes to bind the sauce.
7. Stir in the cut octopus and nearly-cooked macaroni and simmer for the remaining 3-4 minutes required to cook your macaroni (if mixture appears too dry, add some of the pasta cooking water - you want this quite 'moist' but not soupy).
8. Stir in butter. Remove bay leaf and cinnamon stick.
9. Note: I use digitali pasta for this, but I can't get it into the ingredient list with the new Zaar format.
10. Bon Appetit.

Reviews

[rosslare]

Excellent recipe!

[graffeetee]

this is delicious. i have made it twice now. the flavors all meld together so nicely and it tastes homey and comforting. i used penne pasta.

[Chef #1464391]

I've been making this recipe for years out of a Greek cookbook I have. I have made it with large octopus and with baby octopus, which I prefer. I also prefer to use penne pasta rather than macaroni. This is the dish that will make anyone hesitant to try octopus fall in love with it.