Italian Seafood Salad (Insalata di Mare)

With the Christmas season upon us, there are many Italian traditions, ingredients and recipes that families are preparing for. As many of you probably already know, Christmas Eve is our big holiday celebration in Italian families. We usually abstain from meat. The menu usually contains different kinds of fish and seafood such as Baccala, eel, shrimp and smelts for starters. This recipe is a traditional Italian seafood salad. Unlike American seafood salad, this does not contain mayonnaise. It's very light and is dressed with olive oil and lemon juice. This is a traditional Christmas favorite. 





Recipe


Ingredients

1 Ib. bay scallops
1 Ib. shrimp, tails peeled off
1 Ib. calamari with tubes and tentacles
2 small lobster tails, removed from shell
2 fennel bulbs sliced thin
1/2 large red onion, diced small
3 whole celery stalks with leaves, chopped in small slices
A big handful of pitted castelvetrano olives
4 cloves garlic
Lemon slices from one Lemon
Lemon juice
Olive Oil
Chopped parsley
Crushed red pepper
Poaching liquid
Water in a medium stock pot, a good splash of white wine, 2 bay leaves, 1 of the 4 cloves of garlic, salt, pepper, and 3 lemon slices.


Instructions

1. Prepare poaching liquid, get it to a boil then place seafood in one at a time. Bay scallops about 2 minutes, taste to make sure, calamari, one or two minutes, shrimp until they turn pink, and lobster three to five minutes depending on the size.

2. Use a strainer to take them out of the pot and directly into an ice bath to stop the cooking process. 

3. Drain on to a paper towel lined baking sheet.

4. When seafood is cooked, chop up veggies and place into a big bowl along with the olives. Add the seafood to the bowl. Add three garlic cloves, chopped or smashed and toss gently.

5. For the dressing: Mix half lemon juice with olive oil, salt and pepper. You can also add a small squirt of Dijon mustard if you like. Drizzle over the salad and toss so the garlic gets incorporated. 

6. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and taste for seasoning.


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