Spaghetti with small octopus is a perfect dish for seafood lovers and those who love pasta in all its variations. Today, I present it with the spicy small octopus sauce. You know when there’s a bit of leftover sauce and maybe some pieces of small octopus at the bottom of the pot? Well, dress a nice plate of spaghetti and your taste buds will thank you. A little trick that I’ll reveal here, or maybe I’ve said it many times, is to finish cooking the pasta in the small octopus sauce using a little pasta cooking water. This will better absorb the fish flavor into the pasta, and its starch will bind the sauce.
Now, let’s get to the recipe…
- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Medium
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 4
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Energy 388.66 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 36.75 (g) of which sugars 1.02 (g)
- Proteins 28.59 (g)
- Fat 14.40 (g) of which saturated 2.21 (g)of which unsaturated 1.20 (g)
- Fibers 3.22 (g)
- Sodium 1,419.55 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 300 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients
- 11.3 oz spaghetti
- Half tablespoon coarse salt
- 1.3 lbs small octopus (1.76 lbs gross weight)
- 1.7 cups tomato pulp
- 1 red onion (small)
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 bunch parsley
- 1 chili pepper
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 pinches salt
- 1 pinch black pepper
Tools Needed for the Recipe
- 1 Pot
- 1 Cast Iron Pan With Lid
- Strainer / Colander
How to Make Spaghetti with Small Octopus
Remove the innards from the small octopus and wash them well under running water, rubbing them with your hands. This will also remove impurities from the suckers. Let the small octopus drain in the colander.
Meanwhile, peel and finely chop the onion. Peel the garlic clove and place everything in a large pan, preferably cast iron.
Season with oil and gently brown the onion. Once browned, add the chopped chili pepper and the small octopus and raise the heat. Stir the small octopus and let their water evaporate. Add the tomato pulp and lightly salt. Stir, cover the pot with the lid, lower the heat, and cook for 30 minutes.
While the small octopus in sauce is cooking, bring salted water to a boil to cook the spaghetti. Wash and chop the parsley.
When the small octopus is almost cooked, cook the spaghetti. Remove some of the small octopus, to be used as a second course, and add the chopped parsley. Drain the spaghetti very al dente, picking them up with spaghetti tongs, and add them to the small octopus sauce. Finish cooking the spaghetti, and if necessary, add a few tablespoons of cooking water. Pepper to taste and serve immediately.
Tips and Variations
Pasta with Small Octopus and Peas
Halfway through cooking the small octopus, add 5.3 oz of frozen peas and continue cooking.
Pasta with Frozen Small Octopus
You can make the spaghetti using 1.3 lbs of frozen small octopus, thawed so that they lose the icy glaze that covers them. Cook the frozen small octopus sauce for 20 minutes instead of 30.
Pasta with Small Octopus and Olives
10 minutes before finishing cooking the sauce with the small octopus, add 2.1 oz of black Taggiasca olives.
Spaghetti with Mussels and Small Octopus
Open 8.8 oz of cleaned mussels in a pan, filter their liquid, and add it to the small octopus sauce. Sauté the pasta with the small octopus adding the opened mussels.
Open 8.8 oz of cleaned mussels in a pan, filter their liquid, and add it to the small octopus sauce. Sauté the pasta with the small octopus adding the opened mussels.
