This Italian Seafood Salad is a family tradition at the holidays. Packed full of seven different types of seafood and flavored simply, this salad goes perfectly with any pasta dish and of course a good wine. This salad is perfect for your Italian Christmas Eve traditions and for the Feast of the Seven Fishes.
Italian Seafood Salad for Christmas Eve
This Italian Seafood Salad is inspired by my husband’s grandmother, who makes the most amazing seafood salad every year for Christmas Eve. Since moving to Utah, we have really missed our holiday celebrations with that side of the family. In the hopes of passing on those time honored traditions, I also now make this fish salad for our family’s Christmas Eve. Of course, I can only hope it lives up to Gram’s standards!
Feast of the Seven Fishes
The Feast of the Seven Fishes is an Italian-American celebration of Christmas Eve which includes dishes made with seafood and no meat. Traditionally, our family has some sort of pasta dish, a green salad, as well as this seafood salad for dinner. To honor the feast, I make my salad with seven different kinds of seafood. It includes lobster, shrimp, scallops, halibut, calamari, mussels, and clams.
How to Make Italian Seafood Salad
- First, soak your mussels and clams to clean out any sand and discard any that have cracked or open shells that don’t close when you give them a tap. This means they aren’t alive and they need to be tossed.
- Next, poach your seafood, one at a time in the poaching liquid. Keep the liquid at a low boil and be careful not to overcook the seafood; they don’t take long to cook.
- While your seafood chills in the fridge, make your dressing. Sauté some garlic, Italian seasoning and crushed red pepper in oil. Then add some of your poaching liquid, garlic powder and lemon juice and zest.
- Let the dressing cool while you prepare your seafood. Remove everything from their shells, if needed, and chop it up into similar sized pieces.
- Mix your seafood with the olives, fresh parsley and then toss with the dressing.
- This salad is best served chilled for a least a couple hours, or overnight to let those flavors really infuse together!
More Italian Food for Christmas…
If you want to have some delicious pasta to go along with your salad, then try some of these tasty recipes:
- Homemade Spinach Fettuccine
- Roasted Eggplant and Spinach Penne
- The Perfect Classic Italian Lasagna
- Carbonara Mac and Cheese
Lastly, if you make this Italian Seafood Salad, be sure to leave a comment and give it a rating. I love to hear from each and every one of you! Don’t forget to tag me on Instagram as well, if you make any of my recipes. It makes my day to see all of your photos of the food you have made.
Happy Cooking!
Italian Seafood Salad
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Total Time: 170 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
Description
Italian Seafood Salad is packed full of seven different types of seafood. Perfect with pasta for your Italian Christmas Eve traditions!
Ingredients
- 3 quarts water
- ½ cup white wine
- 1 Tablespoon old bay seasoning
- 1 Tablespoon kosher salt (plus extra for seasoning)
- 1 5-6 oz lobster tail
- 1 pound 25/30 shrimp (shell-on, deveined)
- ½ lb sea scallops
- 1 6-8 oz halibut filet
- 1 pound calamari (tubes and tentacles)
- 1 pound mussels
- 1 pound clams
- 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 teaspoons chopped garlic
- 1 teaspoon italian seasoning
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 large lemon (zest and juice)
- 2 Tablespoons fresh parsley (chopped)
- 1 ½ cups olives cured in oil
Instructions
- Place mussels and clams in a bowl and cover with cool water. Let sit for 2 minutes to clean out any leftover sand.
- Meanwhile, put water, wine, old bay seasoning, and salt in a large pot and bring the liquid to a low boil over medium heat.
- First, boil the lobster in the poaching liquid first, for approximately 4-5 minutes till the meat is opaque, the shell is red and the tail is slightly curled. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
- Next, add the shrimp and boil for approximately 3-4 minutes until the meat is opaque, the shell is pink and shrimp are slightly curled. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
- After the shrimp, boil the scallops for approximately 2-3 minutes until they are opaque and slightly firm. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
- Next, boil the calamari for approximately 1-2 minutes until they are opaque and firm. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
- After the calamari, boil the halibut filet for approximately 4-5 minutes until it is opaque and flaky. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
- Next boil the clams for approximately 2-3 minutes until they open. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
- Lastly, boil the mussels for approximately 2-3 minutes until they open. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. Make sure to reserve some of the poaching liquid for your dressing.
- Put all of the cooked seafood in the fridge to chill while you make the dressing.
- To make the dressing, heat olive oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Add in garlic, Italian seasoning, and crushed red pepper and saute for 2 minutes. Add in 1 cup of the poaching liquid, garlic powder, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Remove from the heat and set aside.
- Remove cooked seafood from the fridge. Remove lobster and shrimp from their shells and chop in large pieces. Chop scallops and halibut in large pieces. Slice calamari tubes and remove meat from the clam and mussel shells.
- Combine all of the prepared seafood in a large bowl or serving dish. Add in fresh parsley, olives, and prepared dressing. Toss to combine.
- Chill salad in the fridge for a minimum of 2 hours or overnight for best results. Check salad for seasoning and add salt if needed before serving.
Notes
Recipe inspired by Marjorie Scarlati and adapted from Ina Garten’s Italian Seafood Salad
- Category: Salad, Side Dish
- Cuisine: Italian
Nutrition
- Calories: 383
Keywords: dairy free, gluten free, holidays, seafood