Insalata di Frutti di Mare (Italian Seafood Salad)
Updated Dec. 16, 2023
- Total Time
- 2½ hours
- Prep Time
- 45 minutes
- Cook Time
- 1¾ hours
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:8 servings
- Ice
- 5lemons
- 1pound shrimp, peeled, deveined and tails removed
- 1pound sea scallops, halved horizontally
- 1pound calamari, tubes cut into ½-inch rings, tentacles left whole
- ¾cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 4garlic cloves, finely grated
- 1tablespoon red wine vinegar
- Salt and black pepper
- 1cup thinly sliced fennel (from 1 small bulb)
- 1cup thinly sliced celery (from 1 to 3 stalks)
- 1cup torn or sliced pitted Castelvetrano olives
- ½cup drained jarred sliced hot cherry peppers
- 1cup chopped fresh parsley, plus more for garnish
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)
369 calories; 24 grams fat; 4 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 16 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 13 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams dietary fiber; 2 grams sugars; 29 grams protein; 714 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered byPreparation
- Step 1
Place a steamer basket or metal colander inside a large pot. Add water, making sure it does not rise above the bottom of the steamer. Cover the pot and bring the water to a simmer. Meanwhile, fill a large bowl with water, ice and the juice of one lemon.
- Step 2
Place the shrimp in the steamer, cover and steam for 2 to 3 minutes, until opaque and cooked through, then transfer to the ice bath. When cool, lift out and place on a towel-lined tray to dry. Repeat with the scallops and then the calamari. Transfer to the refrigerator to cool for at least 15 minutes.
- Step 3
In a large bowl, whisk together the olive oil, ½ cup lemon juice (from 2 to 3 lemons), garlic, vinegar and 1 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Add the fennel, celery, olives, cherry peppers, parsley, the zest of 1 lemon and all of the seafood. Gently mix everything together, ensuring the scallops do not break apart. Submerge as much seafood as possible in the dressing in the bowl by gently pressing it down. Cover tightly and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 1 day.
- Step 4
Before serving, give the salad a mix and season to taste with salt and pepper. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the salad into a serving dish. Spoon some (or all) of the dressing over the salad and garnish with extra chopped parsley and lemon zest.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Laurie_N
Delicious and elegant treat for seafood lovers! Made 1/3 of the seafood and 1/2 of the dressing for a light dinner for two. (You need more liquid dressing to properly submerge the seafood.) Three minor mods for next time: 1. More garlic 2. Shave fennel with a mandolin since thin slides were still too thick. 3. Use higher quality EVOO.
Dan
You will be left with a wonderfully rich seafood stock in the steaming pot. Freeze in wide-mouth pint jars (jars with a shoulder will break) and use when stock or bottled clam juice are called for.
Holmestead
I have always dreamed of making this at home; now I can. Welcome Dan, so happy to follow your recipe!
Jenn
This recipe is amazing! Steaming the seafood as described resulted in the most tender calamari. We added a little of the juice from the hot cherry pepper jar to the dressing, which gave it a little more kick. 10/10 recommend!
marcella from Italy
Will make this following the steaming method and the marinade/dressing recipe, which sound super interesting, but I'll sub some boiled potatoes for the other veggies as this is how we enjoy seafood salad here :)
Franco B
This dish was a hit on my xmas eve party. I cut down the garlic to half and used sweet peppers instead of hot to tone it down a bit, and left it in the marinade overnight (mixing occasionally) covered in a glass baking dish (9.5 x 13.5). The steam technique and times were perfect and left the seafood crisp and cooked through as noted in the original article.
Angelique
I'm an inexperienced cook but I took my time to make this for my large family's Christmas Eve gathering. It was a huge hit! I doubled the recipe, but did not fully double the spicy peppers and it was still plenty hot. I will definitely make this again, as will everyone who asked me for the recipe!
MS
Delicious! We brought this a Christmas Eve dinner and it was a hit. Followed as written except increased scallops and calamari due to shrimp allergy in the group and I bet it’s even better with shrimp! Highly recommend using a mandoline for the fennel and celery: it’s faster and gets the slices much thinner for a perfect texture! It’s not a hard recipe but it was a bit more of an undertaking that I expected.
Elise R
Absolutely delicious! I used just shrimp and scallops (couldn’t find calamari). The only change I would make is to steam the scallops a couple more minutes. Sourdough baguette and cold Sav Blanc… Merry Christmas!!!
skullgirl8
This salad needs scungilli, not scallops.
Doug
Great recipe. Followed proportions pretty closely, would add more peppers next time (used pickled pappadews) and more olives. Held up well for two days. Substituted minced shallots for garlic and macerated them in the red wine vinegar.
Gib Metcalf
We freeze our stocks (seafood, meat, veggie) in 8 oz paper hot cups. Easy to store and easy to grab a cup or two when making soup.
Jim
Is this served on pasta?
Margot
typically seafood salad would be served on its own as an appetizer or a side
Carl
My father used to do something like this as a cold pasta seafood salad with cherry tomatoes, and finely chopped peppers and onions, you could definitely go that way if you wanted. Would be more of a main course (great in the summer).
Pat
What size jar of peppers does the recipe mean and what kind of peppers? I want to make this for a party but am stymied!
Brian W.
Cherry peppers should be where olives and such are at your grocery store. They're little round peppers, shaped sort of like a pumpkin. I'd get a small jar, if they have different sizes, and use "to taste," being careful not to overwhelm the seafood.
Jason W
Wow - love this! I actually substituted sliced tongue for the calamari (similar texture) and instead of red wine vinegar I used fish sauce. I also crumbled Roquefort on top and served with a side of pureed chickpeas. Everyone loved it!!!
Mark Christiq
Wife Deborah came up with another fantastic idea for the 7 Fishes concept. If you're going to do a hearty meal like the bucatini, you could start with ceviche - 3 or 4 fishes in that - scallops, shrimp, calamari and some white fish.
Dan
You will be left with a wonderfully rich seafood stock in the steaming pot. Freeze in wide-mouth pint jars (jars with a shoulder will break) and use when stock or bottled clam juice are called for.
Laura G.
Jars with a shoulder will not break if you don't fill them past the shoulder.
Laurie_N
Delicious and elegant treat for seafood lovers! Made 1/3 of the seafood and 1/2 of the dressing for a light dinner for two. (You need more liquid dressing to properly submerge the seafood.) Three minor mods for next time: 1. More garlic 2. Shave fennel with a mandolin since thin slides were still too thick. 3. Use higher quality EVOO.
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