Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking - Marcella Hazan [267]
1 pound octopus tentacles (see note below)
2 medium carrots
2 medium onions
2 stalks celery
¾ pound unshelled small to medium shrimp
Wine vinegar
Salt
¼ pound sea scallops
1 dozen littleneck clams
1 dozen mussels
1 sweet red bell pepper
1 large garlic clove
6 black, round Greek olives and 6 green olives in brine, pitted and quartered
¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
Extra virgin olive oil
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
Marjoram, ½ teaspoon if fresh, ¼ teaspoon if dried
Note Of the ingredients listed, octopus tentacles is the only one not regularly available at most fish markets. Fishmongers in Italian neighborhoods have it, and so do those who supply Oriental cooks. If possible, try to include it in your salad because its fine, firm consistency adds considerably to the variety of the dish. It is not indispensable, however, and if unavailable, proceed without it.
1. Clean the squid as described, then cut the sacs into rings ½ inch wide or slightly less, and separate the tentacles into two clusters.
2. Separate the octopus tentacles into single strands, soak them in cold water, and peel off as much of their skin as will come off. Cut them into disks a little narrower than ½ inch.
3. Peel and wash the carrots, peel the onions, wash the celery.
4. Wash the shrimp in cold water, but do not shell it.
5. Using two separate pots, put 1 quart water, 2 tablespoons vinegar, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 carrot, 1 onion, 1 celery stalk into each pot, cover, and bring the water to a boil. When the water is boiling rapidly, drop the squid rings and tentacles in one pot, the octopus in the other. Drain the squid when its color changes from shiny and translucent to a flat white, which will take just a few minutes. The octopus will take a little longer. Drain it when it too is flat white in color, but first cut into one of the thicker pieces to make sure it is that flat color throughout.
6. Put 2 quarts water in a saucepan together with 2 tablespoons vinegar and 1 teaspoon salt, cover, and bring to a boil. Drop in the shrimp, and when the water resumes boiling, cook for 1 minute, or a few seconds less if they are very small. Drain, and as soon as they are cool enough to handle, shell and devein them. If they are very small, leave them whole; otherwise cut them into rounds about ½ inch thick.
7. Wash the scallops in cold water. Into a small saucepan put 2 cups water with 1 tablespoon vinegar and ½ teaspoon salt, cover, bring to a boil, and drop in the scallops. After the water resumes boiling, cook for 1½ to 2 minutes, depending on their size. Drain and cut into ½-inch cubes.
8. Wash and scrub the clams and mussels as described. Discard those that stay open when handled. Put them in a pan broad enough so that they don’t need to be piled up more than 3 deep, cover the pan, and turn on the heat to high. Check the mussels and clams frequently, turning them over, and promptly remove them from the pan as they open their shells.
9. When all the clams and mussels have opened up, detach their meat from the shell. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the shellfish meat to a bowl. Tip the pan, gently spoon off the liquid from the top without stirring that on the bottom, and pour it over the clam and mussel meat. Add enough to cover.
10. Allow the clams and mussels to rest for 20 or 30 minutes, so that they may shed any sand still clinging to them, letting it settle to the bottom of the bowl. In the meantime, prepare the sweet pepper and the garlic. Split the pepper open to expose and remove the pulpy core with all the seeds. Skin the pepper raw with a swiveling-blade peeler, and cut it into strips about ½ inch wide and 1 inch long. Mash the garlic with a knife handle, splitting and removing the skin.
11. Retrieve the clam and mussel meat with a slotted spoon, and put it in a serving bowl together with the shrimp, squid, octopus, and scallops. Add the bell pepper, the quartered olives, the lemon juice, and enough oil to coat well, and toss thoroughly. Taste and correct for salt and lemon juice, add several