seafood pasta salad

pasta salad summer is OVER!?!??!!?

I write this with tears in my eyes. Grieving the end of what we had. Mourning the loss of something we love so dearly. The end of an era. The end of pasta salad summer.

I’ll miss living off cold pasta for a week straight. I’ll miss calling a mix of cold cuts and burrata a meal. I’ll miss the taste of the juiciest summer tomatoes. I’ll miss not being able to leave a grocery store without buying an extra stock of fun pasta shapes.

But it’s not a goodbye - it’s a see you later <3

But for now let’s just shhhhh and enjoy the moment that we’re in right now. Which is this insalata di mare inspired pasta salad.

My boyfriend has been badgeringggg me to make a pasta salad with squid ink pasta so obviously this was the perfect time to do so. But feel free to use any pasta, it did not taste like anything special at all lol.

But this pasta salad most DEFINITELYYYYY was something special. I actually feel like why doesn’t seafood salad already have pasta in it!?!?!? This is just the epitome of summer and you should most definitely make it.

I got pretty much everything from the frozen seafood section in the grocery store, but you could get the shrimp and squid fresh if you want! This was a rather jam packed seafood salad because I really wanted to get a lot of seafood in every bite but feel free to adjust the quantities for taste preferences!

seafood pasta salad

• 1 lb short cut pasta (I used squid ink bc I’m extra, no need)

• 1/2 lb calamari tubes and tentacles, cut into 1/2 inch slices

• 1/2 lb shrimp 

• 1/2 lb bay scallops 

• 1/2 lb octopus

• 1/4 lb mussel meat

• 2 celery stalks, thinly sliced

• 1/4-1/2 fennel bulb, thinly sliced

• 7 oz marinated artichoke hearts, halved

• 7 oz pitted castelvetrano olives, ripped in half or thirds

• 1/2 cup roasted red peppers, chopped

• 1/4 cup parsley, finely minced

• 1/2 red onion, finely sliced

dressing:

• 1 lemon zested + juiced

• 1 tablespoon calabrian chili

• 1/2 cup parsley, minced

• 1/2 - 3/4 cup fruity olive oil (I used Brightland Awake)

• 3 garlic cloves minced

• salt + pepper to taste

1. boil your pasta in heavily salted water, drain, rinse and set aside.

2. for the dressing: mix all the ingredients and set aside to ~marinate~

3. for the octopus, cut the tentacles into 1/2 inch slices and set aside.

4. for the remaining uncooked seafood: aka the scallops, shrimp and calamari, place into a saucepan along with a few cloves, 2 bay leaves, plenty of salt, 1/2 lemon wedge and some parsley ends. cover with cold water and set over medium high heat on the stove. using a thermometer, bring the water to 170 F then using a slotted spoon, remove the seafood from the water and plunge into a ice bath to stop it from cooking. this technique perfectlllyyy cooks the seafood so it’s not all rubbery/overcooked - highly recommend!

5. I butterflied the shrimp and cut them down the backside afterwards just to make it a smaller bite.

6. add all the ingredients to the pasta and mix with the dressing. add more olive oil + lemon juice + calabrian chili to taste.

and here is your final bite of pasta salad….</333333

And guys this ending isn’t all that bad….because you bitches know I’m a soup girl and this is ITTTTT for me. Turn it the hell up, it’s getting hot n cozy and spicy in here. Soup Sluts unite!!!

Hope you have the best long weekend ever, talk soon xoxoxox

katie