Lentil rice with octopus from Mount Athos
One of the most classic and nutritious dishes in the Holy Mountain. An easy recipe from Mount Athos that combines legumes with cereals, thus giving proteins of high biological value that will strengthen you during the days of fasting. See step by step how to make the most delicious monastery rice you have ever eaten, with all the secrets.
We put the octopus to boil in a pot with vinegar for about an hour, until it softens.
We drain the octopus, remove its skin, cut it into pieces and set it aside for later.
We chop all the vegetables and frizzle them in a pot with olive oil.
We add lentils to the pot and then the tomato sauce.
We pour water into the pot, just enough to cover the ingredients and boil for about 15 minutes on a very low heat.
At this stage we season our food well.
We pour the contents of the pot into an ovenproof dish.
We add the rice, octopus, chopped parsley and 2.5 additional cups of water to the pot.
We add a little more salt, due to the floating ingredients we put in and we mix gently.
We bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for about 25 minutes.
The initial cooking time of the lentils, and therefore the amount of water, depend on the legume itself. We want the lentils to start to soften just enough, without leaving too much liquid, and we will finish them in the oven.
A part of the water we add to the pan, we can replace it with octopus juice.
