Traditional Christmas recipes - Italian Salad

Seafood - use what you like and can find.

This recipe serves about 4 people as a main course. Perhaps 6 people for an antipasto.

This recipe needs to be started about 3 hours before serving.

Ingredients:

About 2 pounds of good quality mollusks, for example:
Manila clams, Black or green lip mussels, some shellfish
About 2,5 pounds of non-mollusk seafood, for example (frozen is OK)
Shrimps
Squid bodies cut into rings
Squid tentacles cut in half (so each has four or so legs)
Bay scallops (corals removed)
Pre-cooked octopus
2 lemons – 2 slices removed and the rest juiced into a bowl
1 cup of white wine
Salt, pepper and hot paprika (or chili flakes)
15 or so pitted Sicilian olives
1 tablespoon of drained capers
1 can of artichoke hearts or 1/2 a bag of frozen artichoke hearts (defrosted)
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and cut into large chunks
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup of red-wine vinegar
1/2 cup chopped parsley
Salad greens
Bread

Special equipment:
Lemon juicer
Colander
Slotted spoon
Flat-bottomed container with a locking lid for marinating
A small whisk

Directions:

Place the clams in a covered pot with cold water for about 1 hour and up to 2 hours. This will force the clams to expel their sand and grit.

De-beard the mussels by pulling off the black hairy outgrowth extending from between the top and bottom shell. Rub the exterior of the shells under cold water to remove as much growth on the shell as possible. Place in a bowl with ice to cover.

Place all the non-mollusk seafood in a colander and rinse with cold water. If they are frozen, rinse every so often to defrost and let drain.

Prepare both a large pot with boiling salted water with a slice of lemon and an ice-bath in a large bowl (stainless steel or ceramic).

Plunge the non-mollusk seafood into the boiling water. Allow the water to come back to a boil and cook for 1 minute.

With a slotted spoon, remove the seafood and lemon slice to the ice bath and let cool until it’s cold to the touch. Drain well and place in a container that will be used for marinating.

Empty the pot used for boiling and rinse. Add the white wine to the pot with the second slice of lemon. Add the mollusks. Watching the pot carefully, bring to a boil until the shellfish begin to open. With the slotted spoon, remove the opened shellfish to a bowl. Let the rest of the shellfish to continue to cook and open. Remove the open shellfish and the lemon slice to the bowl as they open. Discard any clams and mussels that don’t open.

When the shellfish is cool, add to the container for marinating – including the shells.

With your hands, tear the olives apart and add to the container. Add the capers too. Slice the artichokes hearts into quarters and add.

In a bowl, add the lemon juice, red-wine vinegar, olive and garlic. Season with a good pinch of salt, pepper and hot paprika (or chili flakes). Let stand for 10 minutes.

Whisk again and remove the garlic with the slotted spoon and discard.

Add the marinade to the container with the seafood. Seal with the lid and flip over several times. Marinate at room temperature for about 1 hour.

Arrange the salad greens on a platter and with a slotted spoon, serve the marinated seafood salad over the greens. Sprinkle the salad with the chopped parsley.

Serve with bread for enjoying the sauce.