Why This Recipe Works

Dishes such as this seafood salad (or insalata di mare) are classic fare in the coastal regions of Italy in many seasons, but they're especially popular with Italian Americans on Christmas Eve, when the Feast of the Seven Fishes is celebrated. The key to the success of our recipe lies in paying attention to detail in preparing the seafood, which should be as fresh as possible. Since each of the four “fishes” requires its own specific cooking time, poaching them separately ensured that they all remained tender and juicy, never overcooked and rubbery. Tossing all the ingredients together and letting them marinate in the bright lemon-garlic dressing (for at least half an hour or even overnight) allowed the flavors to meld and the seafood to be exceptionally well seasoned.

Before You Begin

We prefer untreated shrimp—those without salt or additives such as sodium tripolyphosphate. Most frozen E-Z peel shrimp have been treated (the ingredient list should tell you). We recommend buying “dry” scallops, which don't have chemical additives and taste better than “wet.” Dry scallops will look ivory or pinkish; wet scallops are bright white. Be sure to use small squid (with bodies 3 to 4 inches in length) because they cook more quickly and are more tender than larger squid. Discard any mussel with an unpleasant odor or with a cracked or broken shell or a shell that won't close. We developed this recipe with Castelvetrano olives, but any pitted green olives will work well. Use a good-quality extra-virgin olive oil here. Serve with crusty bread.

Instructions

Heat 1 tablespoon oil and half of garlic in large saucepan over medium heat until garlic begins to brown, about 2 minutes. Increase heat to medium-high. Add water, wine, ½ teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper and bring to simmer. Stir in squid and cook until firm and opaque, 60 to 90 seconds. Using slotted spoon or spider skimmer, transfer squid to large bowl.

Return cooking liquid to simmer over medium-high heat. Stir in scallops and cook until exteriors are opaque and centers are still slightly translucent, 1 to 3 minutes. Transfer scallops to bowl with squid.

Return cooking liquid to simmer over medium-high heat. Stir in shrimp and cook until shrimp are just cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer shrimp to bowl with squid and scallops.

Bring cooking liquid to boil over high heat. Stir in mussels and cook, covered, until mussels have opened, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer mussels to second large bowl; discard any mussels that haven't opened.

Peel and devein shrimp and remove tails; discard shells and tails. Cut shrimp crosswise into thirds. Cut scallops into ½-inch pieces. Remove mussels from shells; discard shells and residual liquid. Drain any residual liquid from bowl with squid, then add all seafood to bowl with squid.

Add bell pepper, fennel, parsley, olives, shallot, lemon zest and juice, pepper flakes, remaining ⅓ cup olive oil, remaining garlic, remaining ¾ teaspoon salt, and remaining ½ teaspoon pepper to bowl with seafood and toss to combine. Refrigerate seafood salad until well chilled, at least 30 minutes or up to 24 hours.

To serve, gently stir salad to recombine and let sit at room temperature until salad is cool but not cold, 15 to 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste and drizzle generously with extra oil. Serve with lemon wedges.