Can I Use Octopus In The Greek Squid And Orzo?

Our answer

Nigella's Greek Squid And Orzo (from SIMPLY NIGELLA) braises squid in an anise-flavoured tomato sauce. Orzo pasta is added as it cooks in the sauce, swelling and absorbing all of the flavours.

Squid and octopus are both from the cephalopod family and both need to be either very quickly cooked or slowly braised for their flesh to be tender. Squid tubes are quite thin, so the braising time in the recipe is perfect to make them tender. Octopus tentacles are a slightly tougher meat and usually require a much longer cooking time to become tender. So just using octopus instead of squid could lead to the octopus being too tough at the end of the cooking time, unless you were able to cut it exceptionally thinly. You may be able to simmer the octopus first in water until it is tender, or buy octopus that has already been cooked, then use it instead of the squid. However, as we have not tried the recipe this way, we are unable to guarantee the results.