Insalata di Mare (Italian Seafood Salad) Recipe (2024)

Why It Works

  • Marinating the scallops in lemon juice "cooks" them like a ceviche, maintaining their tender texture and sweet flavor.
  • Steamed mussels create a flavorful broth for poaching the rest of the seafood.
  • Starting the shrimp and squid in room-temperature poaching liquid, then heating it just to 170°F, cooks them through without giving them a rubbery, tough texture.
  • Marinating the shrimp with baking soda and salt improves texture once it's cooked, giving it a snappy bite.

It wasn't until very recently that the similarity between Peruvian ceviche and Italian seafood salad struck me. Peruvian ceviche: chunks of seafood—some raw, like fish, and some cooked, like shrimp—marinated in lime juice with cilantro and onion, along with the heat of fresh chili peppers. Italian seafood salad: chunks of seafood, all cooked and tossed in a dressing of lemon juice with olive oil, parsley, and onion, along with a subtle heat from chilies or black pepper. It's remarkable, actually, just how much they have in common. I sit at my computer now, fingers paused, pondering whether they share a historic link, or if it's just a case of culinarymultiple independent discovery.

No matter. For now, I'll have to put that question aside, because the goal before me is not to trace their respective lineages but to figure out how to make the best damn Italian seafood salad imaginable. I'll tell you right away, though: I'm going to steal an idea from ceviche to get there.

Seafood salad is, at its heart, incredibly simple. The seafood should be fresh and tender, the dressing bright and flavorful. It should be served chilled. That's it, really. So, how do we make it?

What Goes Into a Seafood Salad?

Let's start with what I'm putting in my seafood salad, since there are lots of choices. Mine includes mussels, shrimp, scallops, and squid. Many versions also have octopus, clams, and conch,* but I've left those out—not because I don't love them, but just to limit my selection to easy-to-find options (plus, adding musselsandclams seemed redundant).

*That's pronouncedconk, by the way...thecontchpronunciation some people use is a real bugaboo of mine. One more small aside: I grew up in an Italian neighborhood in Brooklyn, where the name for conch wasscungilli. According to my copy of Garzanti, a good Italian dictionary, "scungilli" is not a word that would be recognized by most speakers of standard Italian; best I've been able to determine, it's the Italian-American version ofsconciglio, which is the Neapolitan word forconchiglia, which is itself the standard Italian word for "shellfish." If any native Italian speakers out there can shed more light on these words, I'd appreciate it, since a clear explanation has eluded me for years.

The next question, then, is how to cook them. Equally important is in what sequence, and that's where the logistical beauty of this method emerges. Here's what we know:

  • Musselsare easy to cook. Take a look atour guide to cooking musselsfor more info, but the important thing to know here is they cook quickly in an intense cloud of steam, dumping their own flavorful juices into the pot as they do so.
  • Shrimp, as we know from our recipes forshrimp saladandshrimp cocktail, are best poached by starting in cool water and bringing them up to 170°F, which guarantees plump, tender flesh that's not tight or mushy from overcooking. Marinating them first with baking soda and salt, an old Chinese trick, gives them an impressive juicy snap.
  • Squid, in an application like this, needs to be cooked quickly, just enough to remove it from its raw state, but not so much that its muscle fibers contract and toughen. (Eventually,if you cook it long enough, its ample collagen will soften into gelatin, becoming tender again, but anything in between is rubbery.) It just so happens that squid's quick-cooking sweet spot is similar to shrimp's.
  • Scallops, in the most general sense, are best raw or barely cooked. Even when seared, the goal is to brown the exterior well while leaving the rest as rare as possible. Also: Always buy dry-packed scallops, which are infinitely sweeter and more flavorful than brined, wet-packed ones.

So, given all this, I came up with a plan of attack:

Preparing the Scallops, Ceviche-Style

I start by cutting the scallops into cubes, tossing them with ample lemon juice, and setting them in the fridge to chill—this is the ceviche move. The plan here is not to cook them, but tocurethem, exactly like in a ceviche. It'll be just enough to strip away some of their pure rawness, while maintaining as much tenderness as possible.

Insalata di Mare (Italian Seafood Salad) Recipe (1)

Steaming the Mussels

Meanwhile, I brown some garlic in oil in a saucepan, infusing the oil with flavor. Then I add a small amount of water to the pot, bring it to a boil, toss the mussels in, and cover. They're done in just a couple of minutes, at which point I use a slotted spoon to transfer them to a bowl to cool.

I pluck most of the mussels from their shells, saving only a handful in the shell for presentation (like I did with clams for myspaghettialle vongole), then chill them.

Insalata di Mare (Italian Seafood Salad) Recipe (2)

Poaching the Shrimp and Squid

Now I have some rich, garlicky mussel broth in the pot. I top it up with more cold water, add some lemon juice for acidity and flavor, along with peppercorns and a couple of bay leaves, also for flavor. Voilà! I have a tasty poaching medium for the rest of my seafood. And, because I've added cold water, I've reset the temperature, meaning I can cook the shrimp and squid using that cold-start method.

There's not even a reason to separate the shrimp and squid: They can both go into the tepid poaching medium at the same time, and gently be brought up to 170°F, at which point they'll be perfectly plump and tender throughout. Before cooking the shrimp, I've first marinated them with baking soda and salt for that snappy texture I mentioned above. (I tried that treatment on the squid, too, and it made no difference, so skip it.)

As soon as the water hits 170°F, I transfer the shrimp and squid to a large bowl or rimmed baking sheet to chill.

Finishing the Salad

While all the seafood is cooling, I whip up the dressing, a simple blend of minced parsley, garlic, lemon juice, and olive oil. I toss it with the chilled seafood, adding cayenne pepper for heat (fresh minced chilies would work, too) and thinly sliced celery and fennel for flavor and crunch. I also sprinkle in a little ground coriander seed; I just love it so much with seafood.

The salad is ready to rock as is, but I can tell you from experience that it gets even better the next day, as the seafood marinates and the flavors meld. That's one way in which it's not at all like ceviche, which peaks about 15 minutes after it's made and goes downhill from there. Though I challenge you not to eat all of it right away, by yourself, before anyone even finds out you've made it.

March 2016

Recipe Details

Insalata di Mare (Italian Seafood Salad)

Prep20 mins

Cook20 mins

Active60 mins

Chilling Time60 mins

Total100 mins

Serves4to 6 servings

Ingredients

  • 1/2 pound (225g) dry-packed bay or sea scallops, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

  • 2 teaspoons grated zest and 1 cup (240ml) juice from 8 to 10 lemons, divided

  • 1 pound (450g) large shrimp, peeled and deveined

  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste

  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

  • 4 medium cloves garlic, 2 crushed and 2 minced, divided

  • 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon (135ml) extra-virgin olive oil, divided

  • 2 pounds (1kg) mussels, de-bearded and scrubbed (see notes)

  • 5 whole peppercorns

  • 2 bay leaves

  • 1 pound (450g) cleaned squid bodies and tentacles, bodies cut into 1/2-inch rings and large tentacles halved lengthwise

  • 1/4 cup packed minced flat-leaf parsley leaves and tender stems (3/4 ounce; 20g)

  • Dash cayenne pepper

  • Dash ground coriander seeds (optional)

  • Freshly ground black pepper

  • 2 stalks celery, sliced thinly on the bias (6 ounces; 170g)

  • 1/2 cored and peeled fennel bulb, cut lengthwise into quarters, then sliced thinly on the bias (4 ounces; 115g)

Directions

  1. In a nonreactive bowl, combine scallops with 6 tablespoons (90ml) lemon juice and toss well. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 2 hours.

    Insalata di Mare (Italian Seafood Salad) Recipe (3)

  2. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, toss shrimp with salt and baking soda and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

  3. In a large saucepan, heat 2 crushed cloves garlic in 1 tablespoon (15ml) oil over medium heat until golden, about 4 minutes. Add 1 cup (240ml) water and bring to a simmer over high heat. Add mussels, cover, and cook until all mussels have opened, about 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer mussels to a large bowl and refrigerate until chilled.

    Insalata di Mare (Italian Seafood Salad) Recipe (4)

  4. Add 4 cups (960ml) cold water to mussel-steaming liquid, along with 2 tablespoons (30ml) lemon juice, peppercorns, and bay leaves. Add shrimp (without rinsing) and squid to poaching liquid and set over medium-high heat. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until liquid temperature reaches 170°F on an instant-read thermometer. Continue cooking until shrimp are cooked through and no longer translucent in the center. (They may already be cooked by the time your water reaches 170°F; adjust heat to make sure temperature does not go over 170°F otherwise.) Using a slotted spoon, transfer shrimp and squid to a large bowl, then refrigerate until chilled. Discard poaching liquid, peppercorns, and bay leaves.

    Insalata di Mare (Italian Seafood Salad) Recipe (5)

  5. Pick all but 10 mussels from their shells, discarding shells. Cut shrimp in half lengthwise down the middle. In a medium bowl, combine parsley, remaining 1/2 cup (120ml) lemon juice, lemon zest, remaining 1/2 cup (120ml) olive oil, remaining 2 minced cloves garlic, cayenne pepper, and coriander seed (if using). Whisk well.

  6. Drain scallops. In a large bowl, combine scallops, shrimp, squid, shelled mussels, and dressing. Season with salt and pepper and toss well. Mix in 10 shell-on mussels. Dressed seafood can be refrigerated for up to 2 days and will improve in flavor during that time.

    Insalata di Mare (Italian Seafood Salad) Recipe (6)

  7. When ready to serve, add celery and fennel to seafood salad and toss well. (Celery and fennel can be added up to 30 minutes before serving, but any earlier and they'll soften too much.) Season with salt and pepper and serve chilled.

    Insalata di Mare (Italian Seafood Salad) Recipe (7)

    Insalata di Mare (Italian Seafood Salad) Recipe (8)

Special Equipment

Instant-read thermometer

Notes

Discard any mussels that are gaping open and refuse to close when prodded.

Insalata di Mare (Italian Seafood Salad) Recipe (2024)

References

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