Seafood Salad with Crunchy Vegetables, brings back very distant memories from my childhood, when I lived happily in Riccione with my whole family. My mom often prepared it, especially during the summer months, but it was always a must-have appetizer on Christmas Eve. It’s an easy recipe to make, but it requires some time because the steps are quite long. The result, however, is excellent: delicious and beautiful to serve. I used prawns instead of shrimp, just because they were the only fresh ones available at the fishmonger the other day. So, use the shellfish you find, also according to your taste.
Here are the links to some tasty fish recipes for Christmas Eve:
- Cost: Medium
- Rest time: 2 Hours
- Preparation time: 2 Hours
- Portions: 6 people
- Cooking methods: Boiling
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 2.2 lbs mussels to clean
- 1.76 lbs clams to clean
- 1.32 lbs prawns/shrimp to clean
- 1.76 lbs cuttlefish to clean
- 2 stalks celery
- 2 medium carrots
- 2 bulbs fennel
- 5.3 oz Gaeta olives
- to taste extra virgin olive oil
- to taste white wine vinegar
- to taste salt
Tools
- 2 Saucepans
- 1 Small pot
- 1 Cutting board
- 1 Knife
- 3 Bowls
- 1 Toothpick
Preparation
Remove the lateral thread, the one that keeps the mussels attached to each other, remove any encrustations on the shell if necessary, soak them for half an hour and rinse under running water. Place the clams in a bowl, add water, a pinch of salt and leave them for about two hours. Finally, rinse under running water as we did with the mussels. Then put them to open in a large saucepan, covered, over high heat: it will take about 5/10 minutes. Once cooked but not overcooked, let them cool.
Remove the head of the prawns, the shell and cut the top vertically with a small knife to remove the intestine and quickly but gently rinse under running water. After boiling water in a small pot, immerse the shellfish, cook for only two minutes, and drain immediately. Do the same for the cuttlefish, which has already been cleaned by our trusted fishmonger. Let it cook for only ten minutes, otherwise, it will harden. Then move on to the vegetables: cut the carrot, celery, and the green parts of the fennel into small pieces, those you would have thrown in the bin.
In a large bowl, put the shelled mussels and clams, also add the cuttlefish sliced into strips, using a knife or scissors as desired.
Finally, dress with extra virgin olive oil, white wine vinegar, salt, Gaeta olives and mix all the ingredients well.
Serve our Seafood Salad with Crunchy Vegetables, but not before letting it rest in the refrigerator for at least two hours.
Tips
The seafood salad keeps for two or three days in the fridge, but always covered.
If you want to enrich it, giving it a stronger taste, you can use mayonnaise instead of extra virgin olive oil.
Other types of vegetables are also great, choose according to your taste.
Don’t like vinegar? Feel free to substitute it with lemon juice.
