Pan Fried Baby Octopus

I had never cooked octopus, but do love eating it. It makes me think of distant rocky, European shores bathed in sunlight.

Surprisingly, I came across some wild caught baby octopus at my local market. I have never seen it for sale before. At $4 a pound I had nothing to loose. Instantly visions of Greek style grilled octopus popped into my head. I added feta and olives to my cart to round out the meal!

Each one was about the size of my hand. We weren't sure if we should cut the head off or not, so we just left them intact. I marinated them in a simple mix of lemon, garlic and Greek oregano. After some debating we decided that starting up our coal grill for 3 minutes of grilling time would be a waste of coal, so we brought out our large cast iron griddle to do the honors.

                                                                                                                            Notice the belly!

The baby octopus literally cooked in under a minute. They began curling and turning dark purple the moment they hit the grill! I discovered that if you flip them head up for the last 20 seconds they would unfurl the tenticles into an almost floral pattern.

We ate these up with a large Greek Salad while enjoying the beautiful summer evening.

Greek-Style Baby Octopus
1 pound baby octopus
1 teaspoon crushed garlic
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
ground pepper
handful of fresh oregano (Greek or regular)

1. In a large flat dish mix up the marinade. Lay octopus in dish in one layer. I flipped them around then organized them into the layer. Let rest, in the fridge, for at least 20 minutes.
2. Heat a large griddle or frying pan over medium high heat.
3. These cook up super fast, about 30 seconds per side or until opaque.
4. Enjoy hot or cold