Pasta Seafood Salad

Submitted by appleydapply

"This recipe is adapted from a Silver Palate cookbook; the main difference is that I took out the squid rings! I've been making it for 20 years. It's a delicious spring or summer dinner, and is a pretty company dish. Serve with a lettuce & tomato salad, and a loaf of crusty bread - sublime! It's easy to make, and is quick unless you have to shell the shrimp. You can use any type of pasta, but the small shells are best because when the salad gets mixed together, the peas nestle into the shells and look very cute!"

 

• Ready In: 30mins
• Ingredients: 12
• Serves: 6

ingredients

• 1 lb medium raw shrimp, shelled and deveined
• 1 lb bay scallop, rinsed
• 1⁄2 lb small shell pasta (or another interesting shape such as twists)
• 1 cup frozen tiny peas, thawed
• 1⁄2 cup diced sweet red pepper
• 1⁄2 cup purple onion, finely chopped
• 1⁄2 cup olive oil
• 1 cup fresh basil leaf
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice (freshly squeezed)
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 cup Greek olive

directions

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil, drop in the shrimp and scallops, cook for one minute, and drain immediately.
2. Bring another large pot of salted water to boil. Cook the pasta as directed on the package, until tender but not mushy. Drain.
3. Toss the cooked pasta and seafood in a large bowl (make sure they are both well drained).
4. Add the peas (no need to cook them), red pepper, and onion, and toss.
5. Place dressing ingredients (olive oil, basil leaves, lemon juice, salt, and pepper) in a food processor bowl fitted with a metal blade. Process until basil is very fine. Pour over the pasta/seafood mixture and mix well. Taste and add salt, pepper, and/or lemon juice as necessary.
6. Place the salad in a serving bowl or mound it on a platter. Scatter with greek olives.
7. Serve immediately, or cover and refrigerate. Salad tastes better when at room temperature, so if refrigerating until later, be sure to take it out of the fridge for 30 minutes before serving.

Reviews

[FrenchBunny]

I cut this recipe down to serve just two of us for lunch. I did everything as the recipe says but I found it was just missing a little flavor for me. Perhaps it needed more basil or something. It's a very quick recipe to put together though and nice and colorful. Made it before leaving for work and we had it for lunch. Thanks for sharing your recipe appleydappply.

 

[JackieOhNo!]

Wow - this was delicious! I had to use tricolor rotini, because I thought I had small shells in my pantry and I didn't. It still worked out fine. The dressing was delicate and delightful. I used small shrimp (because I had to use up what I had). I made this to bring to work for lunch during the week and it has been so satisfying. I will be making this again and again!

 

[mums the word]

I am rating without stars for now because I screwed up a bit. When I scanned the recipe for ingredients I didn't catch that I needed a cup of fresh basil which I didn't have. So I used about 1 1/2 tsp of dried basil which I know does not compare to fresh. So, I had to doctor this up for more flavour by adding garlic and lemon pepper and some dried oregano. Let me tell you, it was still AWESOME. I can't wait to make this properly with the fresh basil. Thx for sharing your recipe appleydapply. When I make this again with the fresh basil, I will come back to re-rate it. The colours in the salad are so pretty too.

 

[bluemoon downunder]

I made this delicious pasta salad with small shell pasta as suggested, scaled back to two serves for tomorrow's take-to-work lunch, but I have sampled it. WOW! :) Fabulously flavoursome. If you enjoy seafood, this is a MUST-TRY recipe. And as it looks so elegant, it's certainly also a dish I'll be keeping in mind for serving to guests. Loved the blend of flavours in the dressing. Like KITTENCAL, I added some garlic (because we love our garlic and because it blended so well with the other flavours here). I used kalamata olives as that's what I always use and always have on hand. This is, I know already, going to become a favourite dish. Thank you so much for sharing it. Made for 1-2-3 Hit Wonders.

 

[Kittencalrecipezazz]

very good! this is similar to the seafood salads served in Greece, I also added in a pinch of Greek oregano and 1 small garlic clove , I will make again soon we really enjoyed this, thanks for sharing appley!