Food Holidays & Occasions Christmas 21 Seafood Recipes for a Feast of the Seven Fishes Curate your holiday spread with these options for fish dip, seafood salad, seafood stew, seafood pasta, and main courses. By Food & Wine Editors Food & Wine Editors This is collaborative content from Food & Wine's team of experts, including staff, recipe developers, chefs, and contributors. Many of our galleries curate recipes or guides from a variety of sources which we credit throughout the content and at each link. Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines Updated on November 8, 2023 Trending Videos Close this video player Photo: Photo by Andrew Bui / Food Styling by Max Rappaport To celebrate the Italian-American tradition of the Feast of the Seven Fishes on Christmas Eve, you have tons of seafood dishes to choose from. These recipes have you covered, from traditional dishes like Frutti di Mare to fun and fancy fish dips. Fry up a batch of extra-crunchy calamari to serve with your favorite sauce and a few lemon wedges. Or try your hand at tomato-braised baccalà, a cod dish served at Italian celebrations. Curate your menu for a wonderful feast featuring shellfish, squid, swordfish, sea bass, and more in the form of starters, salad, stew, spaghetti, and centerpieces. 01 of 21 Fancy Clam Dip Justin Walker This classic white clam dip — filled with cream cheese, crème fraîche, and, of course, canned clams — is salty, cheesy, and craveable. Some generous splashes of hot sauce and plenty of fresh dill add brightness and cut through the rich dip. Get the Recipe 02 of 21 Neoclassic Seafood Salad Greg Dupree / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Christine Keely Alfred Portale's Frutti di Mare is inspired by the ingredients behind the seafood salads in deli cases in Little Italy. The dish has evolved since becoming an icon of New York's Gotham Bar & Grill in the late 1980s, and the plating is worthy of a special occasion. Get the Recipe 03 of 21 Extra-Crunchy Calamari Greg Dupree Want to know the secret to exquisitely tender yet crunchy calamari? Start with a soak in buttermilk. For added crunch, you can't beat cornmeal; its fine, pebbly grains fry up crispy. Serve with your favorite marinara. Get the Recipe 04 of 21 Insalata di Pesce Photo by Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Torie Cox / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen This recipe was inspired by "a seafood salad that was light, refreshing, and showcased what just a few simple ingredients can do." Get the Recipe 05 of 21 Cioppino (Seafood Stew) Greg Dupree / Food Styling by Kelsey Moylan / Prop Styling by Josh Hoggle Bobby Flay's version of the famous Italian-American seafood stew from Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco uses generous portions of fresh shrimp, littleneck clams, and snapper. Get the Recipe 06 of 21 Lobster Risotto Photo by Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Lydia Pursell A small pinch of saffron goes a long way in imparting a vibrant golden hue and floral fragrance to this creamy, indulgent lobster risotto. Precooked lobster and bottled clam juice deliver robust layers of flavor with a minimum amount of effort. San Francisco sommelier Tonya Pitts recommends pairing the dish with a bottle of white Bordeaux. Get the Recipe 07 of 21 Spaghetti with Mussels, Squid Ink, and Breadcrumbs Aubrie Pick Commonly sold as squid ink, cuttlefish ink lends its signature deep black hue to this dish from Christian Puglisi and coats every strand of spaghetti with its briny, mineral-rich taste. A simple mussel puree provides a mild, delicate seafood flavor and creamy richness. Get the Recipe 08 of 21 Tomato-Braised Baccalà with Olives and Polenta Justin Walker Simmering soaked salt cod in a tomato sauce filled with peppers, onions, and olives infuses the fish with flavor and leaves it flaky and tender. Sweet and creamy polenta — enriched with lightly tangy mascarpone — sops up the sauce and balances the brightly flavored fish. Get the Recipe 09 of 21 Venetian Shrimp with Polenta Victor Protasio Inspired by Schie con Polenta in Venice, Italy, David McCann tops simple polenta with garlicky, buttery shrimp that's cooked in white wine and chicken stock. Get the Recipe 10 of 21 Smoked Salmon Dip Photo by Jennifer Causey / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Lydia Pursell This creamy dip features flaky smoked salmon two ways: Half is finely chopped to add a pleasant texture to the dip alongside briny pops of capers, and the rest is pureed with the mayonnaise, sour cream, and cream cheese, lending its beautiful color and deepening the flavor. Get the Recipe 11 of 21 Fregula cun Cocciula (Sardinian Fregola with Clams) Photo by Cedric Angeles / Prop Styling by Stephanie Bohn This dish, from March restaurant in Houston, spotlights perfectly steamed clams and chewy fregola, a small round pasta from Sardinia, in a golden, spicy, briny broth. Get the Recipe 12 of 21 Cioppino with Fennel and Saffron Photo by Andrew Bui / Food Styling by Max Rappaport An abundance of seafood and three types of fennel (bulb, seed, and pollen) infuse chef Brandon Boudet's version of this San Francisco fish stew with remarkable flavor, while Calabrian chile paste and crushed red pepper add a subtle layer of heat. Get the Recipe 13 of 21 Monkfish Piccata Greg DuPree Monkfish, with its tender, springy bite reminiscent of lobster, is firm and sweet enough to stand up to this lemony butter sauce enriched with white miso. Plenty of briny capers and caperberries help cut through the richness. Get the Recipe 14 of 21 Spaghetti with Mussels, Clams, and Shrimp © Rick Poon Pack simple pasta with succulent shrimp and briny mussels and clams for a seafood lover's spaghetti. Get the Recipe 15 of 21 Italian Seafood Stew © John Kernick In this luscious, tomato-rich stew, chef Marco Canora cooks calamari slowly until it becomes super tender. He says calamari is absolutely essential to the success of the dish, because it releases its liquid as it simmers, which adds a huge amount of flavor to the sauce. Get the Recipe 16 of 21 Black and White Pici Pasta with Squid and Shellfish © John Kernick 2014 F&W Best New Chef Eli Kulp prepares this dramatic seafood pasta dish with freshly made, toothsome black and white noodles, which he tosses with a big, briny seafood sauce and finishes with spicy pickled cherry peppers. Get the Recipe 17 of 21 Sea Bass with Sicilian Cherry Tomato Sauce Abby Hocking Extra Virgin hosts Debi Mazar and Gabriele Corcos riff on classic Southern Italian puttanesca with their Sicilian Cherry Tomato Sauce, here made with fresh tomatoes. The recipe calls for wild sea bass, but Mazar and Corcos like to make it with almost any fish, especially rich and oily ones like mackerel or bluefish. Get the Recipe 18 of 21 Roasted Sardines with Olives, Capers, and Parsley © John Kernick Here, sardines are first pan-fried with a mix of olives, capers, lemon zest, parsley, and chiles, then roasted in the oven for a few more minutes until they're cooked through. To make this more of a main course, chef Chris Cosentino pairs them with a crunchy salad of artichokes and sunchokes. Get the Recipe 19 of 21 Salted Anchovies, Salsa Verde, Bread, Butter Abby Hocking Chef Missy Robbins found inspiration for this dish in Italy. The best part? It's ready in just over half an hour, so it makes for an easy appetizer. Get the Recipe 20 of 21 Baked Clams with Bacon and Garlic Marcus Nilsson In this ultimate version of baked clams, chef Daniel Humm includes chopped clams in the filling, doubling down on the briny flavor of our favorite bivalve. Bacon, parsley, lemon, and a touch of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese add a savory, herby kick. Get the Recipe 21 of 21 Swordfish Sicilian-Style © Greg DuPree Of all the wonderful recipes legendary cookbook author Marcella Hazan created, our all-time favorite is this quick-cooking swordfish, where an oregano-infused sauce imparts bright flavor to hot-off-the-grill steaks. The secret is pricking holes in the fish so the lemony dressing seeps in. Get the Recipe Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit