As many of us know, the feast of seven fishes is a holiday custom spanning the ages. Dating its origin to southern Italian tradition, the feast traditionally served on Christmas Eve typically features seven varying fish dishes, but has since expanded to include up to 13. But there are a few favorite crowd pleasers that are sure to be a hit at Christmas Eve dinner.
Insalata di mare
Ingredients: 1lbs of mussels, ½ lbs squid, ½ lbs scallops, ½ lbs prawns, 1 onion 1 red pepper, 6tbspns olive oil, tbsp. drained capers and 1 clove of crushed garlic.
-Cook mussels in saucepan until shells open. Discard unopened ones. Set aside.
-Cook squid in water, 5 mins until tender. Set aside and save water.
-Cook scallops in same water 3-4 minutes. Set aside and allow cooling.
-Combine all, add sliced peppers, diced onion, garlic, capers, olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Serve.
Stuffed Calamari
Ingredients: 12 squid tubes, 1 red pepper, 2 stalks of celery (chopped), 10 cloves minced garlic, ½ lbs chopped shrimp meat, ½ lbs chopped crabmeat, 32oz tomato sauce, 1lbs linguine and 1tsp oregano, basil, garlic salt, crushed bay leaves and black pepper.
-Preheat oven to 330 degrees
-Mix chopped red pepper, celery, onions, and garlic to shrimp and crab. Stuff in squid tubes and place in baking dish.
-Heat oil in in skillet and saute celery, onion, and garlic before adding tomato sauce, oregano, garlic salt, and pepper. Let simmer 10-15 minutes and bake over squid tubes for 20 minutes.
-Serve over linguine.
Baked Stuffed Lobster
Ingredients: 4lbs lobster, 8oz lobster meat, 2/3c drawn butter and 4c bread crumbs.
-Prepare lobster for broiling and preheat oven to 400 degrees.
-Combine crumbs and butter, place half the mixture in lobster, along with lobster meat
-Cover exposed meat in remaining mixture
-Back 30-40 mins. Serve.
