We begin this wonderful Mediterranean seafood salad with fresh octopus, calamari, shrimp and mussels. Oh so satisfyingly fresh and light. This dish can be included at the table many different times of the year. During festive times Italians love to add this to their holiday line up as well. It is always a welcome dish and can be served as an appetizer or a tasty second course. This cold seafood salad will keep your guests wanting more. Know one needs to know just how easy it was to prepare. I recommend making this the night before and store in the refrigerator just before serving.
Both in Italy and the United States many families celebrate Christmas Eve with fish as the main part of their dinner table. In Italy it is referred to as La Virgilio and the exact number of fish eaten isn’t mentioned, it is assumed there will be a lot of choices to choose from. In Italian-American homes we lovingly refer to it as “Feast of the Seven Fishes” Most importantly fish is meant to be prepared, shared, and eaten as part of tradition, passed down from generation to generation.
The first step is to clean all the fish, by removing the beak, eyes and all impurities present in the octopus head. Separate the heads from the squid in the same manner and clean out all the insides including the clear plastic feeling bone. Rinse under cold running water very well.
Choose from an array of fish that is a good mix of tradition, while at the same time keeping guests in mind to their tastes of likes and dislikes. It is helpful to plan the menu out well in advance to have an idea of when and where you will shop to get the best quality and freshest fish. We recommend.......
The best tips I recommend for this fish salad is to make it the night before or even as early as the afternoon before. It will stay excellent in the refridgerator overnight. It will have an olive oil, herb dressing and it will allow all the flavors to marry nicely together. This will free up a lot of time the day of your party to have ample amount of time to prepare some of the other fishes that need to be prepared within a few hours of serving. Planning is key. In my “feast of the seven fishes ebook, I lay the plan out for you here…..
- Octopus
- Calamari
- Shrimp
- Mussels
- lemon
- parsley
- Olive oil
- Salt
- Pepper
Mediterranean Fish Salad
Ingredients
- octopus
- shrimp
- mussel
- calamari
- 1 lemon
- olive oil
- parsley
- salt
- pepper
Instructions
- clean and prepare fish
- boil octopus in large pot of boiling water with two lemon halves, peppercorns, celery
- boil calamari and shrimp /in a separate pot, first the calamari then the shrimp, remove and drain.
- make the traditional dressing: Olive oil,fresh lemon juice, parsley chopped, pinch of salt
- modern twist dressing: olive oil, crushed garlic, chopped parsley, 1/2 a lemon , 1/2 tangerine squeezed, 1/2 tsp honey dejon mustard pinch salt and mix well.
- Pour over and toss together
- place in glass bowl covered overnight, fridge overnight and ready to serve when ready. I like to serve on a nice platter for presentation.
