Chickpeas with octopus is a hearty and delicious fasting food.
Materials:
One 2kg octopus
One bay leaf
allspice
peppercorns
One glass of wine
500 gr. chickpeas, soaked from the night before
One onion, chopped
Two cloves of garlic, finely chopped
One sprig of rosemary
One lemon
120 ml extra virgin olive oil
salt
pepper
Procedure
Step 1
Put the octopus in a pot with the bay leaf, allspice, peppercorns, and wine and cover the pot to simmer on medium to low heat in its own liquid for 35-40 minutes. Make sure it doesn't stick, and only add a glass of water if necessary because the octopus releases a lot of liquid. At the same time, put the chickpeas in plenty of cold water to boil for 1 hour on medium heat, adding the onion and garlic. Preheat the oven and fan to 180°C.
Step 2
As soon as the chickpeas are soft, put them in a Pyrex or baking dish together with their liquid. Add the octopus, rosemary, sliced lemon and extra virgin olive oil. Make sure that the food is covered with liquids.
Season with salt and pepper, put the pan in the oven, and bake for about 30 minutes.
Sotiris Evangelou is a columnist for Olive Magazine. Translated by Paul Antonopoulos.
