Cooking octopus without water is a very strange way to cook octopus and cuttlefish but it makes the octopus tender and flavorful. You won’t need to add anything during cooking and to eat it as a main course just season it with pepper and extra-virgin olive oil, or you can use it to make salads by adding vegetables, or together with boiled potatoes. When my aunt told me to try octopus cooked without water I thought it was a joke, but I assure you it’s delicious and tender and you don’t even need to add salt. Just follow the directions and use a pot with a thick bottom and a lid. To prepare octopus cooked without water (dry-cooked octopus) you can use either fresh or frozen octopus. Now let’s see how to cook octopus without water and if you try it tell me. Barbara
I recommend you try:
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Inexpensive
- Preparation time: 2 Minutes
- Portions: 4
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 2.2 lb octopus
- to taste pepper
- to taste extra-virgin olive oil
Cooking octopus without water
Let’s start preparing the octopus without water: clean the octopus, remove the entrails, the eyes and the beak, and wash it well under running water. If you are using a frozen octopus, thaw it in the refrigerator before cooking.
Place the octopus in the pot without adding anything, close with the lid, put the pot on the middle burner and set to medium heat. After about 5 minutes there will be some liquid at the bottom of the pot: the octopus will begin to release the water naturally contained in it.
Lower the heat to the minimum and cook without ever opening the lid. Now cook the octopus for 40 minutes, then check the cooking because the time varies depending on the size and type of octopus.
Insert the tines of a fork and if it feels tender it’s cooked; otherwise close the lid again and continue cooking. An octopus of about 2.2 lb needs about 1 hour; for an octopus of about 1.8 lb usually 40 minutes are enough.
Once the octopus is cooked, turn off the heat and let it cool inside the pot in its own liquid with the lid on.
Once the octopus has cooled, you can slice it and season it as you prefer.
How to store octopus cooked without water
Store it in the refrigerator for 2 days
