Insalata di mare
This salad forgives one thing least of all: overcooked seafood. Each kind has its own short window, which is why they are cooked separately, never together. Squid has an extra trap: it is tender for the first two minutes, then turns to rubber, and only softens again after a long braise of at least half an hour. The second rule: the dressing goes onto warm seafood, because only then is it absorbed.
Your own work in that: 0 min.
- Mussels 10 min
- Squid 12 min
- Prawns 5 min
- Marinating 60 min
Step by step
0 / 6 doneOpen the mussels in wine
Put the cleaned mussels in a pan with the wine and bay, cover and cook 4–5 minutes over high heat until they open. Discard any that stay shut. Pick the meat out of the shells and strain the liquid through a fine sieve and keep it — the squid and prawns will cook in it and take on its flavour of the sea.
Ingredients: 700 g mussels · 400 g squid · 300 g prawns · 150 ml white wine · 1 pcs bay leaf
Open ones stay, closed ones go in the bin.Cook the squid either briefly or for a long time
Cut the squid into rings. Top the mussel liquor up with water to about 1 litre, bring to the boil and cook the squid at a gentle simmer for exactly 2 minutes, then lift out with a slotted spoon. Squid is tender up to two minutes, then toughens and only softens again after at least half an hour of braising. There is no third option — take the short one.
Ingredients: 700 g mussels · 400 g squid · 300 g prawns · 150 ml white wine · 1 pcs bay leaf
Two minutes. Not three.Cook the prawns for three minutes
In the same liquid cook the prawns for 3 minutes, until curled into a C. Peel and devein them after cooking — the shell protects the meat from drying out as it cooks.
Ingredients: 700 g mussels · 400 g squid · 300 g prawns · 150 ml white wine · 1 pcs bay leaf
Make the dressing and pour it on warm
Crush the garlic with the salt, add the lemon juice, oil, finely chopped chilli and chopped parsley. Toss with the still-warm seafood — warm seafood takes on the flavour of a marinade far better than cold, just as potatoes do in a potato salad.
Ingredients: 2 pcs lemons · 100 ml olive oil · 2 cloves garlic · 1 pcs chilli · 1 bunch parsley · ½ tsp salt
Dressing onto warm seafood, never cold.Rest an hour, but not in the fridge
Add the sliced celery, olives and capers and leave for an hour at room temperature. In the fridge the oil thickens and loses aroma, and the flavours mingle more slowly. Do not leave it out for more than 2 hours — if you are serving it later, keep it in the fridge and take it out half an hour before serving.
Ingredients: 2 pcs celery sticks · 80 g olives · 2 tbsp capers
Season again before serving
Taste immediately before serving and you will almost certainly want more lemon. The seafood soaks up the lemon juice, and after an hour of marinating its taste fades noticeably, even though at the start there seemed to be too much.
Ingredients: 2 pcs lemons · 100 ml olive oil · 2 cloves garlic · 1 pcs chilli · 1 bunch parsley · ½ tsp salt
Before you start
Which seafood
The line-up is open, as long as there are at least three kinds of differing texture: something springy (squid), something firm (prawns) and something soft (mussels, octopus). Prawns alone give a monotonous salad.
Frozen works too
Thaw slowly in the fridge and pat dry before cooking. Watch the times even more closely — thawed seafood loses water faster and is easier to overcook. Frozen mussels are usually already cooked: just warm them in the wine for a minute.
The Christmas Eve version
In many homes, especially in southern Italy, insalata di mare appears at the Christmas Eve dinner. You can make it in the morning, keep it covered in the fridge and take it out half an hour before serving — a dish that only gains from being made ahead.
