The drowned baby octopus is a dish from Neapolitan cuisine that is excellent to serve as an appetizer or as a main course, easy to prepare and delicious. Also known as “Purptiell affugat”, they are very similar in ingredient preparation to Luciana-style octopus. The term drowned refers to the fact that the baby octopus slowly cooks drowned in tomato sauce and its own water, this simple cooking method allows us to obtain particularly tender and tasty octopus even using very few ingredients!
The preparation is very simple: we prepare a sauté of garlic and chili and let the baby octopus cook over low heat for a few minutes. Then we raise the heat and deglaze with white wine. When the white wine has evaporated, we lower the heat again, add the tomato purée, and let it cook over low heat and covered for about an hour or less depending on the size of the octopus. At the end of cooking, we serve with chopped parsley and adjust the salt and pepper.
With the same cooking method, we can cook not only baby octopus but also whole octopus and small squid. Naturally, depending on the size of the mollusks used, the cooking time will be longer or shorter. We can also use either frozen or fresh baby octopus.
Excellent both hot and warm, drowned baby octopus is definitely a great dish for everyday lunch and dinner but also for festive occasions such as Christmas and New Year’s Eve, or as a main course or appetizer for many special occasions.
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- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 5 Minutes
- Portions: 4
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian Regional
- Region: Campania
- Seasonality: All Seasons
Ingredients for Preparing Drowned Baby Octopus
- 2.2 lbs baby octopus (or small squid)
- 3 cups tomato purée
- 1/4 cup white wine
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 chili pepper
- parsley
- extra virgin olive oil
- salt
Steps to Prepare Drowned Baby Octopus
Prepare the drowned baby octopus by first washing the baby octopus well (unless you buy them already cleaned). Remove the eyes, beak, and empty the insides, and clean the suckers well because they may contain sand.
Chop the chili pepper and peel the garlic cloves and sauté them in a large pot with olive oil.
Add the baby octopus and let them sauté over low heat for 2-3 minutes until the tentacles begin to curl. Then raise the heat and deglaze with white wine.
When the wine has completely evaporated, lower the heat and add the tomato purée. Adjust salt and cook covered for about an hour. Stir occasionally, checking that the sauce is not too thick; if so, add hot water.
At the end of cooking, sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve the drowned baby octopus hot or warm.
Simo and Cicci recommend
You can store these octopuses in the fridge well sealed in an airtight container for up to one day.
With the same type of preparation, you can also use small squid or a whole octopus. Naturally, the cooking time may vary based on the size of the octopus and small squid.
You can accompany these drowned octopuses with croutons simply toasted in a pan or make excellent bruschetta or use the sauce obtained from cooking to dress pasta.
You can enrich the sauce with capers, black olives, green olives, chopped chili, etc.
FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
What is the difference between small squid and baby octopus?
They are very similar, but the difference lies in the suckers. In fact, baby octopus have two rows of suckers on the tentacles, while small squid have only one row.
