Receta Ina Garten's Italian Seafood Salad
Ina's Italian Seafood Salad minus the Mussel shells....
and with them served on a bed of lettuceIt’s houseguest season and that means
food. Lots of it. By my count, between
Friday and Sunday, there are total of 6 meals to offer: 2 dinners, 2 breakfasts
and 2 lunches. If that all seems overwhelming,
don’t kill me for saying it doesn’t have to be. The more you get done before the guests
arrive, the easier your weekend will be.
This dish could not be a better example.
You make the whole thing in all of an hour in the morning, stick it in
the refrigerator for at least 3 hours and you’ve got a superb dinner or lunch
whenever you want it.
Except for the Shrimp, everything else
is from the Hamptons.Out here in the Hamptons, seafood is
the perfect locavore ingredient to serve.
The waters around here team with the Squid, Mussels and Scallops the
recipe calls for. Granted, shrimp are few
and far between in these waters, likely to have been brought up here from the
Gulf Coast, but they’re the exception. Our local Squid in particular is rated
as a “Best Choice” on the Monterey Bay’s Seafood Watch
(www.seafoodwatch.org). Mussels can be found
clinging to every dock in the region.
And Sea Scallops come right out of the bay not 5 miles from our house,
although Hurricane Sandy put a dent in the crop that we still recovering from. Finally, what else says “Welcome to Long
Island” more than a seafood entrée featuring the local catch plus one…unless,
of course, it’s a potato.
Ina Garten is no stranger to this
blog. We love the simplicity of
everything she makes and this is no exception. From her latest cookbook “Foolproof” (Clarkson
Potter 2012), it’s her take on an Italian restaurant stand-by. But it’s a complete original full of lemon-y
sauce magnified by the addition of Limoncello liqueur to give it even more
lemon-y punch. The seafood in this dish
cooks in no time. This short cooking
time is essential to maintain its delicacy, otherwise you will find yourself
with rubbery shrimp and tough squid. The best thing to do is to have absolutely
everything lined up and ready to go before you start. And that also applies to the sauce. This fragrant mix of garlic, oregano and red
pepper flakes is full of diced tomatoes, lemon zest and juice. The addition of a splash of the cooking liquid boosts the seafood flavor even higher. All the ingredients go into a skillet in short order so
have them lined up and ready to go too. The last ingredient into the mix is the thinly sliced fennel which adds a licorice crunch to the salad. We served the dish for dinner with only one accompaniment: French bread dripping
in garlic butter and I do mean dripping.
It was the perfect counterpoint to the lemon-y salad.
Recipe for Ina Garten’s Italian Seafood
Salad
Serves 6 to
8. Takes 1 hour to make then another 3 in the fridge.
- 1 tablespoon
- Old Bay seasoning
- 1 1/2 pounds
- (16- to 20-count) peeled and deveined shrimp
- 1 1/2 cups
- dry white wine
- 1 pound sea
- scallops, halved crosswise
- 1 pound
- cleaned fresh calamari, sliced crosswise in 1/2-inch-thick rings
- 4 teaspoons
- minced garlic (4 cloves)
- 2 teaspoons
- dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon
- crushed red pepper flakes
- 3 plum
- tomatoes, seeds and pulp removed and medium-diced
- 1/3 cup
- limoncello liqueur
- 1/4 cup
- freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons)
- Freshly
- ground black pepper
- 1 small
- fennel bulb, trimmed, cored, and thinly sliced crosswise
- 1/2 cup
- fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, lightly packed
- 2 lemons
- Fill a large
- pot with 3 quarts of water and add the Old Bay seasoning and 1 tablespoon of
- salt. Bring to a boil, add the shrimp, lower the heat, and simmer for 3
- minutes, until just firm. With a skimmer or slotted spoon, transfer the shrimp
- to a large bowl. Leave 2 cups of the poaching liquid in the pot and discard the
rest.
Add the wine
to the poaching liquid and bring to a boil. Add the scallops, lower the heat,
and simmer for 2 minutes, until just cooked. With the skimmer, transfer the
scallops to the bowl with the shrimp. Bring the poaching liquid back to a boil,
add the calamari, and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes, until just cooked. Be careful
not to overcook any of the seafood or it will be tough! With the skimmer,
transfer the calamari to the bowl.
Bring the
poaching liquid to a boil again, add the mussels, cover, and simmer for 4 to 5
minutes, until all the shells have opened, discarding any that don't open. Turn
off the heat and set aside until the mussels in the broth are cool enough to
handle. Remove the mussels from the shells and add to the bowl. Add 12 of the
shells to the seafood and discard the rest. Set aside 1/2 cup of the poaching
liquid, discarding the rest. Drain the seafood in a colander and put it all
back into the bowl.
For the
dressing, heat the olive oil in a medium (10-inch) saute pan over medium heat.
Add the garlic, oregano, and red pepper flakes and cook for 1 minute. (Be
careful: Overcooked garlic will be bitter.) Add the tomatoes and cook over
medium heat for 2 more minutes.
Add the reserved poaching liquid, the
limoncello, lemon zest, lemon juice, 1 tablespoon salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper
and cook for 1 more minute. Pour the sauce over the seafood and toss gently.
Add the fennel and parsley. Cut a lemon in half lengthwise, cut it thinly
crosswise, and add it to the salad. Toss gently to combine and cover with
plastic wrap. Chill for at least 3 hours or overnight.
To serve,
sprinkle with 2 teaspoons salt, 1 teaspoon pepper, and the juice of the
remaining lemon. Taste for seasonings and serve cold or at room temperature.