Greek Style Chargrilled Octopus Recipe (Xtapodi)
Greek Style Chargrilled Octopus, tender and succulent, marinated in lemon juice, olive oil, and spices. Perfect for grilling, enjoy the Mediterranean taste with every bite. Best cooked on the charcoal BBQ.
Ingredients
For octopus
- 1 octopus (mine was 4kg)
- 2 tablespoon salt (for massaging)
- water (enough to submerge your octopus)
- 1 cup red wine (250 ml)
- 2 tablespoon salt (for boiling)
- ½ tablespoon black pepper corn
- 2 onions (red)
- 3 bay leaves
Marinade
- 300 ml lemon juice
- 300 ml olive oil
- 1 tablespoon oregano
- 4 garlic cloves (minced)
Instructions
Cleaning + Massage
- Remove the beak from the Octopus. The head of my Octopus was already removed, but if yours isn’t, you’ll need to clean this out and remove the eyes.
- Place the Octopus into a large bowl and add your salt. Massage the Octopus well for a good 10 minutes, then rinse.
Boiling the Octopus
- Get a large pot and add in the onions, bay leaves, peppercorns, salt, wine, and water. Then bring this to a boil.
- Once the water is boiling, slowly dip the tips of the tentacles into the water. This helps get the curly bits on the ends of your tentacles.
- After a few dunks, place the whole Octopus inside the pot and reduce the heat to bring it to a simmer. Let the Octopus simmer for 45 minutes – 1 hour.
- Note: you want the Octopus to be tender but not cooked to the extent that the skin comes off. A good way to gauge if it’s cooked enough, is to pierce a stick through it.
- Once the Octopus is ready, drain it from the liquid and let it cool for a good 30 minutes.
Marinade
- To a bowl, add the lemon juice, olive oil, oregano, and garlic. Mix until all is evenly combined.
- Once the Octopus is cooled, cut into even pieces that are easily manoeuvred on the charcoal. Place these pieces into the marinade and mix it through until all tentacles are coated.
Chargrill over the charcoal BBQ
- Place the tentacles on the BBQ, ensure the BBQ is hot in temperature. This is a quick step as we just want to char them. Be careful as the marinate will drop on the coals and create flare ups.
- Once all pieces are beautifully charred, remove from the heat.
- Optional: cut the thicker pieces into meze (bite size chunks) and place in your serving dish. Drizzle over some more marinade and enjoy!
Video
Nutrition
Calories: 236kcalCarbohydrates: 5gProtein: 0.5gFat: 23gSaturated Fat: 3gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 17gCholesterol: 0.04mgSodium: 2328mgPotassium: 95mgFiber: 1gSugar: 2gVitamin A: 13IUVitamin C: 12mgCalcium: 20mgIron: 1mg
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