While many await the excitement of gifts on Christmas Eve, nothing speaks to us seafood lovers like the Feast of Seven Fishes! Preparing so many dishes can be overwhelming, but we have all the tips and tricks you need for a smooth sailing holiday.
Generally, the seafood tends to demand the center of attention during this Italian tradition. This feast is in celebration of “La Viglia” – or the Midnight birth of Jesus on Christmas Eve. Generations of family members get together with traditional seafood dishes for a festive meal!
Our favorite way of incorporating a wide variety of seafood is by separating them into courses. Start the evening with a simple appetizer or offer a soup and salad before breaking into the main course. This strategy helps to alleviate the expectation of serving seven different dishes all at once. Follow along this easy breakdown and take home some inspiration for your very own feast!
First Course: Appetizers
The very first course is one of the easiest and most fun to play with! You can simultaneously serve finger foods, dips, and even snacks. It’s important to offer a few varieties – while not taking much of the guest’s appetite. Try a few of these easy recipes below for some delicious, hassle free appetizers!
Fresh Shrimp Cocktail – A shrimp platter is the easiest way to please a crowd. Fresh shrimp served with Cocktail Sauce and Lemon is a classic around the holidays! It is also available on our holiday menu for pick up on Christmas Eve!
Shrimp or Smoked Salmon Crostini – Another finger food that will get a crowd talking! Both salty salmon or shrimp taste delicious on a slice of baguette with seasoned cream cheese. Find the recipe to our Smoked Salmon Crostini here. You can also conveniently pick up ready-made shrimp crostini on Christmas Eve by placing an order ahead of time!
Oysters on the Half Shell – With oysters growing right in our backyard, how can you forget them? Easily serve on their own with just cocktail sauce and lemon! You can also create your own mignonette or doll them up with a bit of caviar! Come by Snug Harbor Fish Company for fresh Powder Point Duxbury Oysters!
Find more appetizers on our holiday menu! Be sure to place your order quickly to ensure we have everything you need for a seamless pickup on December 24th!
Second Course: Soups
Your second course should be a soup! Though it may seem like much, soup is a vital addition to your lineup of dishes. Not only do they taste delicious, they aid digestion in preparation for the main course! Unfortunately, we don’t have recipes available for our soups, but we do make them in house. Call in any one of these tasty soups to add to your table and pickup on Christmas Eve!
Portuguese Shrimp Gumbo – No one makes a gumbo quite like Di. Full of shrimp, chorizo, and amazing spices – it will have your kitchen smelling like wintery paradise!
New England Clam or Lobster Chowder – When serving soup in New England, it’s almost mandatory to include “chowdah”. Stick to the traditional clam, or branch out for lobster chowder: both available at Snug Harbor Fish!
Seafood Stew – You can’t go wrong with a hearty seafood stew. With a million varieties and almost no way to go wrong, seafood stew is a perfect recipe to try out! Add in your favorite spices and vegetables on top of fresh fish. We tend to favor white fish stew, but love to shake things up by adding scallops or shrimp!
Third Course: Salad
Salads are a great break in between a hearty soup or stew and the main course. With healthy greens, a salad is both a beautiful accent to the table and a sweet surprise in flavor!
Italian Calamari Salad – This unique seafood salad is a wonderful way to incorporate something new to the table! Its’s made with a citrusy lemon vinaigrette and delicious spices, like oregano, basil, and red pepper flakes. Find the easy recipe here on our blog!
Lobster Pasta Salad or Lobster Salad – Treat your guests with lobster! Serve Traditional lobster salad over greens or make your own Pasta Salad, with the link here. Both are great alternatives to a basic salad with greens and offer more flavor!
Fruit and Fish Salad – Take salad to a new level with a crisp apple salad topped with scallops and little neck clams! A combination of delicious fruits, mixed greens, citrus dressing, steamed littlenecks, and pan seared scallops? Yes, please!
Fourth Course: Pasta
Any excuse to enjoy pasta is good enough for me! Besides, there are an infinite amount of ways to combine pasta and seafood. See some of our favorites that we have features as daily specials below!
Shrimp Scampi – A classic dish that is adored by many! With flavors of garlic and lemon, this pasta deserves to be on everyone’s plate.
Shrimp and Clam Fra Diavolo with Pasta – A hearty pasta dish that includes not one, but two types of seafood, is a bonus dish for the Feast of Seven Fishes! This tasty meal is also available as a Meal Kit in our shop!
Fifth Course: Entrée
The final entrée of our five course meal will be the main event of the night. The magical piece of preparing seafood is the variety of ways to do so: baking, pan-searing, frying, grilling, poaching, etc. The entrée is where we can have the most fun with both flavors and techniques. Try one of our delicious dishes below to ensure your guests finish their feast with a smile!
Lobster Thermidor – As one of the meals that requires extensive preparation, this Lobster Thermidor will certainly impress. It’s a creamy stuffed lobster that is baked in a rich wine sauce, and finished with an oven-browned cheese crust. Trust me, it is well-worth the effort!
Cranberry Honey Glazed Salmon – This recipe was a recent discovery of ours and has found its way to our table quite a few times already! Imagine local cranberries and honey simmering into a delicious glaze top rich, sweet Faroe Island salmon… Yes, we did that!
Baked Stuffed Lobsters – Allow us to do the hard part for you with Baked Stuffed Lobsters! We make our very own seafood stuffing to put inside of dressed local Humarock lobsters. All you have to do, is pick them up Christmas Eve and then throw them in the oven! If you’re feeling ambitious, you could try it yourself – or make Baked Stuffed Sole!
Now you know how to incorporate many different fish into your Feast of the Seven Fishes! Make sure to tag us in your photos so that we can share your each of your outstanding creations. Happy holidays!
Tag us on @snugharborfish on Instagram or Facebook; we always love to see what our customers are creating!
