The Feast of the Seven Fishes is an Italian Christmas Eve tradition, which my family has incorporated into our holiday tradition for the last many years. We save recipes especially for this dinner, and I look forward to it all year. There are traditional Italian favorites like Baccala (fried cod balls), but every family has their own favorite recipes and flavors, and there are no rules; just that you have a lot of fish, and family to share it with.
Our family favorite is seafood soup. First, because when we don't have time to come up with seven separate courses, it helps us incorporate more than one fish at a time. And second, because it is an amazingly comforting, delicious and hearty dish that, to me, embraces the feeling and flavor of the family meal. The fish that we include varies depending on what looks good at the market that day, but is always a firm white fish, at least one shellfish, and scallops.
This Christmas, my husband and I were on our own so we "simplified" the meal a bit, snacking on smoked salmon pate with crackers earlier in the day; a simple arugula, cherry tomato and smoked albacore belly salad in the afternoon, and shrimp cocktail pre-dinner. We moved on to panko-crusted lump crab cakes with roasted red pepper coulis for an appetizer, before the main dish of seafood stew with crusty bread, rounding out our seven fish with swordfish, bay scallops and mussels.
Here is the recipe my family uses, altered yearly for seafood variations, and whatever other spontaneous changes we decide to make. Serves 4.
2 Tbl olive oil
1/2 c chopped onion
2 cloves chopped garlic
1/2 c chopped fennel
1/2 c chopped leeks
1/2 c chopped carrots
red pepper flakes to taste (spicy but not overwhelming)
1 tsp turmeric
a few threads of saffron
a few sprigs of fresh thyme
bay leaf
1 cup dry white wine
2 cups fish or vegetable broth
1 cup canned crushed tomatoes
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup cubed potatoes
1 1/4 c swordfish or halibut
1 1/4 c bay scallops, or sea scallops cut in half or quarters
8 clams and/or 8 mussels
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 c chopped fresh parsley
Make fish stock with vegetable stock base, water and any discarded shrimp, crab or lobster shells, brought to a boil and left to sit until ready to use. Strain shells.
When broth is ready, heat oil in a large soup pot. Saute onion, garlic, fennel, leeks and carrots until soft. Add red pepper, saffron, turmeric, bay leaf, broth, wine, tomatoes, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 5 minutes. Add potatoes and simmer until soft, about 10 minutes. Add broth or tomatoes if desired. Add fish, scallops and shellfish. Simmer until shellfish open and fish is cooked through, a few minutes. Add cream, bring to a boil and remove from heat. Add parsley and serve in large bowls with crusty bread.
Most importantly, share with people you love. As my favorite Italian proverb goes, "a tavola non si invecchia", or, you don't grow old at the dinner table.
Shoot! I'm hungry.
