Italian Christmas Eve Dinner

It is a tradition with many Italian families to celebrate Christmas Eve with an elaborate fish banquet. Sometimes referred to as The Feast of the Seven Fishes, not everybody sticks to exactly seven; some go up to 11 or 12, predominantly shellfish. Personally, since I am allergic to shellfish, I have a feast of one fish, Red Snapper Livornesa (actually, since it is Christmas Eve we usually splurge and use Chilean Sea Bass rather than snapper).

Since my Christmas Eve dinner is scaled down, I decided to consult with my cousin Sal for some menu suggestions. He is the one person I know that still goes all out with the Christmas Eve tradition. Sal was very excited to discuss his feast with me and got right into the menu. "I start off with Fried Calamari," he detailed. "My trick is mixing equal parts all purpose and semolina flour for the batter. The semolina gives it a really nice texture."

In addition to the calamari, his menu includes shrimp, clams, mussels, crab and his show-stopping main course, Stuffed Lobster. This year he is looking to add an octopus salad, the recipe for which he is working on with his mother, my Aunt Maria. Maybe next year we will have to update this page with that recipe. Enjoy and have a happy and healthy Holiday season.

Update December 2008 - While we don't have the new octopus salad recipe from Sal this year (he was not happy with the way it came out last year and is still trying to perfect it), I have added a couple of new dishes to the menu below, they are indicated with the year in parenthesis. I also have added a photo gallery of some of the menu dishes at the bottom of the page, click on the images to enlarge them.

Christmas Eve Menu

Appetizers

Pasta

Entrees

 
 
 

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