Musssels, Clams, Shrimp and Calamari in a Lemon Parsley Marinade

Angela’s Tuscan Style Seafood Salad

  • Angela’s Tuscan Style Seafood Salad
  • Angela’s Tuscan Style Seafood Salad
  • Angela’s Tuscan Style Seafood Salad
  • Angela’s Tuscan Style Seafood Salad
  • Angela’s Tuscan Style Seafood Salad
  • Angela’s Tuscan Style Seafood Salad
  • Angela’s Tuscan Style Seafood Salad
  • Angela’s Tuscan Style Seafood Salad

INSTRUCTIONS

Scrub mussels in ice cold water. Remove the “beards” that grow from the seam of the two shells. Just pull that fibrous stuff out and discard.

Scrub the cockles in ice cold water. In two saucepans, cook mussels and clams on medium heat until their shells open. You don’t need to add any liquid, the liquid from the shellfish will be enough to steam them open. Remove from heat and drain off any excess liquid.

Rinse squid and shrimp under cold water. Add shrimp to a pot and fill with cold water. Bring to a boil, and then remove them with a slotted spoon as soon as the water reaches a rolling boil. The shrimp are done. Set aside.

Bring that same pot of water back up to a boil, add your squid and cook for 2 minutes, or until you can easily spear with a fork. Set aside.

Slice octopus into 1/4″ thick rounds and remove/discard the heads and shells from shrimp. Remove mussels and clams from shells.

Combine all your seafood in a mixing bowl.

Chop parsley finely, squeeze juice of one lemon over seafood and douse in the best olive oil you can find.

Take a clove of garlic, break in half and add to the bowl. Let the mixture marinate for at least one hour in the fridge.

Before you serve, remove garlic clove, and plate. Sprinkle parsley on top of your seafood and garnish with slices of lemon and cracked black pepper.

RECIPE

DIFFICULTY

HARD

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SERVES

8

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PREP TIME

60 MINS

  • 1 
    lb 
    Small shrimp, shell on
  • 2 
    lb 
    cockles
  • 2 
    lb 
    mussels
  • 1.5 
    lb 
    large squid (ask your fish monger to clean them for you)
  • 1 
     
    juice of lemon
  • 1 
    handful 
    italian parsely
  • 1 
     
    olive oil
  • 1 
    pinch  
    sea salt
  • 1 
    pinch 
    pepper
  • 1 
    clove 
    garlic broken in half

INSTRUCTIONS

Scrub mussels in ice cold water. Remove the “beards” that grow from the seam of the two shells. Just pull that fibrous stuff out and discard.

Scrub the cockles in ice cold water. In two saucepans, cook mussels and clams on medium heat until their shells open. You don’t need to add any liquid, the liquid from the shellfish will be enough to steam them open. Remove from heat and drain off any excess liquid.

Rinse squid and shrimp under cold water. Add shrimp to a pot and fill with cold water. Bring to a boil, and then remove them with a slotted spoon as soon as the water reaches a rolling boil. The shrimp are done. Set aside.

Bring that same pot of water back up to a boil, add your squid and cook for 2 minutes, or until you can easily spear with a fork. Set aside.

Slice octopus into 1/4″ thick rounds and remove/discard the heads and shells from shrimp. Remove mussels and clams from shells.

Combine all your seafood in a mixing bowl.

Chop parsley finely, squeeze juice of one lemon over seafood and douse in the best olive oil you can find.

Take a clove of garlic, break in half and add to the bowl. Let the mixture marinate for at least one hour in the fridge.

Before you serve, remove garlic clove, and plate. Sprinkle parsley on top of your seafood and garnish with slices of lemon and cracked black pepper.

Angela has lovingly prepared every meal I have eaten in the last week since we arrived in Porto Ercole, a small town on the Tuscan island of Argentario. Of course, this region is famous for its cuisine – simply prepared seafood, vegetables doused in home-pressed olive oil, and locally made cheese and cured meats. We have had the immense pleasure of staying at the home of my sister-in-law, Francesca (you might remember her Salad contribution featuring a very special Berkel meat slicer). The house is situated on the the edge of a cliff; the view as we eat our meals is almost as mind-blowing as the food itself. Endless Mediterranean water, olive trees, fig trees, craggy cliffs and not a person in site.

I was determined to do a salad post while here. Angela and her husband Giulio, who ran out into the orchards to pick the perfect lemon for our shoot, were patient enough to engage in a comical amount of gesticulation, pantomime and tongue-tied English/Italian bumbling to make this classic seafood salad for the blog.  The journey began in our tiny Fiat, chugging to make it around the pot holes and boulders dotting the road that leads to the house. We went to the fish monger and the vegetable stand in town, then Angela pointed out her own house across the valley as we made our descent back up to the kitchen.

Angela tolerated me as I took her photo and tried to glean some semblance of a recipe from the experience.