Description
A festive Italian-American seafood salad featuring a colorful mix of seven seafoods tossed in a bright olive oil and lemon marinade, perfect for Christmas Eve or any celebratory meal.
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 1 pound calamari, cleaned and cut into rings
- 1/2 pound scallops, halved if large
- 1 pound mussels, scrubbed and debearded
- 1 pound clams, scrubbed
- 1/2 pound cooked octopus, sliced thin
- 1/2 pound cooked lobster meat, chopped
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (about 2 large lemons)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
- 2 celery ribs, thinly sliced
- 1/2 medium red onion, thinly sliced
- Salt and black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat Your Equipment: Bring a large pot of salted water to a gentle boil and prepare an ice bath nearby.
- Combine Ingredients: Poach shrimp, calamari, scallops, mussels, clams, and octopus one by one until just cooked, then immediately shock each seafood in the ice bath to stop cooking and preserve texture.
- Prepare Your Cooking Vessel: In a large mixing bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice, 2 minced garlic cloves, 1/2 cup chopped parsley, 2 thinly sliced celery ribs, and 1/2 thinly sliced red onion.
- Assemble the Dish: Gently fold the cooled seafood and 1/2 pound chopped cooked lobster meat into the bowl, tossing carefully to coat everything evenly with the marinade.
- Cook to Perfection: Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 2 hours to allow flavors to meld, up to overnight for best flavor.
- Finishing Touches: Just before serving, taste and adjust seasoning with salt and black pepper and add an extra squeeze of lemon juice if desired.
- Serve and Enjoy: Arrange the seafood salad on a platter, garnish with additional parsley and lemon wedges, and serve chilled with crusty bread.
Notes
- Marinate at least 2 hours for best flavor, overnight is ideal.
- Do not freeze the finished salad, freezing will degrade the texture of the seafood.
- Shock cooked seafood in an ice bath immediately after poaching to preserve tenderness and color.
- Save mussel and clam cooking liquid to enrich soups or risottos.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 of 8 servings
- Calories: 280
- Sugar: 3 g
- Sodium: 650 mg
- Fat: 12 g
- Saturated Fat: 2 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 9 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 6 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 28 g
- Cholesterol: 150 mg