Salad of the Sea

Yields
Serves 6

Recipe by Michael Toscano of Le Farfalle in Charleston, South Carolina

For the vinaigrette:

2 teaspoons lemon zest

½ cup lemon juice

1 cup olive oil

2 medium cloves garlic

1 shallot, roughly sliced

Salt and black pepper

For the vegetables:

1 English cucumber, peeled, seeded, and cut on a bias

2 celery stalks, sliced thinly on the bias

2 tablespoons ground fennel seed

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

¼ cup packed minced flat-leaf parsley leaves

Kosher salt and black pepper

For the salad:

12 ounces large shrimp, peeled and deveined

8 ounces cleaned squid bodies and tentacles, bodies cut into ½-inch rings and large tentacles halved lengthwise

6 ounces sea scallops, cut into ½-inch pieces

Make the vinaigrette: Place all ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.
Make the vegetables: In a bowl, season cucumbers and celery with fennel seed, red pepper, parsley, salt, and black pepper.
Make the salad: Bring 4 quarts salted water (as briny as the sea) to a boil. Drop shrimp into water for approximately 4 minutes, until they’re just cooked. Remove with a slotted spoon and let cool on a baking sheet at room temperature, then transfer to a refrigerator. In the same boiling water, cook squid rings and tentacles for 1 minute. Repeat same cooling process as shrimp.
Just before serving, combine scallops with 1 cup of vinaigrette and add salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate for 10 minutes, then fold with shrimp and squid. Transfer to a serving platter, drizzle with vinaigrette, and serve immediately.

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