Saucy Octopus Rice with Red Wine and Tomato

Saucy octopus rice with red wine, tomato, and a hint of allspice. Similar to a rice pilaf, this octopus rice is thick, creamy, and a bit saucy like risotto.

 This simple dish is one of my favorite ways to cook octopus and turn it into a delicious one-pot meal.  Because the octopus is so meaty it really shines in this recipe where it’s cooked with red wine, tomato, bay leaves, and allspice (ingredients usually added to meat dishes, like this delicious Greek Beef Stew).

Table Of Contents

• How To Cook Octopus Rice
• Octopus Cooking Tips
• Type Of Rice To Use
• Can I Make It Using Other Seafood?
• Serve With
• Recipe

How To Cook Octopus Rice

To make rice with octopus you need to pre-cook the octopus first. Simmer it with red wine and allspice to soften and flavor it. Then you cut it and add it to the pot where you’ve sautéed onions, garlic, and tomato paste.

Sautee the octopus for 1-2 minutes and then pour in some of the wine-octopus stock (it contains all the collagen and flavor). How much of it you add depends on how strong you want the flavor of the dish to be. I usually add some water in as well.

Depending on the octopus (like where it was fished and how salty it is) its stock can be very salty or more subtle. So taste and add accordingly. The amount of octopus stock the recipe calls for is a safe one to add.

Octopus Cooking Tips

1. Cook octopus until it’s fork tender yet firm. Don’t overcook to the point it’s too soft and its skin starts to come off.
2. Some people dislike the octopus skin, but in this recipe, you can easily remove the skin after simmering the octopus and letting it cool.
3. The octopus skin becomes soft and a bit gelatinous in this recipe (unlike getting firm when grilling). If you don't like it that way, you can remove the skin as mentioned above, or sear it in a pan with olive oil before adding it to the pot with the other ingredients.
4. The wine helps soften the octopus and removes some of its strong seafood odor. Allspice and bay leaves also help with this. Other seasonings that go well here are rosemary, thyme, and oregano.

Type Of Rice To Use

To make this rice with octopus I'm using long-grain rice (Basmati). If you have access to a Greek food store then you can use Greek Karolina rice. Or you can skip the rice and add orzo pasta instead. Use 250 grams of orzo pasta with 1 liter of liquid (including the octopus stock).

Can I Make It Using Other Seafood?

Sure you can! You can use Squid or Calamari (by the way this Stuffed Squid With Rice is so delicious) but instead of pre-cooking it separately, cut it into pieces, sear it in olive oil, and then proceed on step 6 of the recipe. Also, instead of adding the 1½ cups of octopus stock add only ½ red wine the rest can be either water or stock whatever you are using.

This dish is also great with shrimp or mussels. Try it in this Shrimp Rice Pilaf version or steam some fresh mussels in red wine until they all open up. Begin from step 5 of the recipe and add the mussels towards the last 3 minutes of cooking.

Serve With

Serve this delicious octopus rice with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and freshly ground pepper. A piece of feta cheese on the side is always welcome. Though my personal favorite is to serve it with a sprinkle of cayenne pepper!

Recipe