Traditional Octopus Pie! 

Ready to try a delicious octopus pie recipe from the Ionian Islands?

This is traditionally an appetizer dish. It’s made for 12 small portions. The recipe is designed for a baking pan 15 inches X 12 inches, or another pan of similar dimensions.

Octopus Pie: Ingredients List

The ingredients that we are going to need are the following:

• about 2 pounds of small octopus (cleaned, washed, ready to be cooked)
• 1/2 glass of dry red wine (in our case we recommend a Barbera)
• 2/3 cup of basmati rice (pre-soaked for 10 minutes in warm water, then strained)
• 1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil 
• 3-4 onions, finely chopped
• 6 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 1/2 pound of grated zucchini (that’s been strained)
• 1 pound of hard, red tomatoes, grated 
• 1 bunch of parsley, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon of crushed chili peppers 
• 1 pinch of cinnamon 
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• phyllo dough made for pita (found in Greek or Mediterranean food stores, Whole Foods, Wegmans, etc)

Octopus Pie: Cooking Steps

With just a little bit of water, you start by boiling the small octopus until the pieces become soft. Add the wine, and when it starts boiling, remove it from the flame, let it cool down for a while. 

Cut the octopus legs in very small pieces, and leave them in their broth, in a separate bowl. 

In a frying pan, add 3 -4 tabesppin of extra virgin olive oil, and saute the chopped onions until they soften but not brown. Add the garlic as well, and then remove from the fire. 

In a large bowl, stir the onions with the strained zucchini, the tomato, the basmati rice, the octopus pieces, parsley, cinammon, crushed chili peppers (add as much or as little as you desire in the recipe), half of the rest of the olive oil we have, and the salt. 

Preheat the oven to 425 degress. 

Apply the olive oil on the pan, and place half of the phyllo on the bottom of the pan, using a soft small brush, apply a small amount of olive oil between each phyllo piece while layering.

Pour the stuffing, and cover with the rest of the phyllo dough. Don’t forget to always add olive oil between each layer here as well!

Cut the leftover pieces of phyllo dough from around the pan, and roll the edges towards the inside, to create a nice trim for the pie. 

And again now, apply olive oil to the top layer. 

With a sharp knife, cut to the bottom of the pie in three or four spots, and place the pan in the oven. 

After approximately fifteen minutes, with a spray bottle, lightly spray water on top of the pie about six to eight times. Keep baking in the same temperature for approximately five more mintues. 

Lower the temperature around 350 degrees and let it be for one more hour. 

Then cover with aluminum foil and bake for a last 15 more minutes.

Turn off the oven and let the pie sit inside the cooling oven for 15 more minutes.

Then remove the pie and let it cool down for 2 hours before cutting and serving the pie. 

What pairs well with our scrumptious seafood pie?

This octopus dish pairs well with a European-style Rose wine! 

Cheers and enjoy! 

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