Scungilli Salad Recipe
Bringing your Dishes from Zero-to-Hero
Coming from the Northeast, I have great memories of days on end at the beach; climbing over the many rocks, collecting sand dollars, sea shells, and finding crabs scurrying between tide pools. However, I especially remember these little snails you’d find attached to everything. It was always oddly satisfying to pry them off the rock and examining the little guys. Of course, then putting them back where I got them and watch the snails anchor themselves back onto the rock.
These little guys are commonly known as periwinkles, and can be used in a massive variety of dishes, where it’s then called Scungilli. Scungilli is a component that’s somewhat vague and applies to a broad spectrum of snails. In the simplest sense, it relates to the snail when its cut up, cooked then used for its meat in a variety of dishes.
Before you get to the dish though, what must you do in order to catch these little suckers? Well, it’s not as complicated as it may seem to get these delicacies.For at-home cooking, simply pluck a good amount off the rocks or sifting through the water can be enough, however for my hardcore snail fisherman out there, using alarge dragnet can be a much more time effective tool.
Now don’t feel too bad about plucking the little guys from their rocks. These creatures are actually everywhere and to a degree, they have negative effects on the areas they’re located. They can be the cause of certain diseases to local fish and have a negative impact on the coastal flora of their area. In turn, this is damaging local fisheries so help out your local businesses and pluck a few, just make sure there are no local or town rules against doing such things. Always check before you collect!
In addition to being SUPER simple to catch, they’re even easier to cook and eat! It is best to keep these bad boys simple. If you’ve got 500 grams, or for us non-metric system users, 4 cups of Scungilli, boil them with a little bit of sea or rock salt for five minutes and POW! you’ve got a delicious, easy dish to enjoy on their own or with some melted butter.
Now if you’re not a big fan of eating little snails directly from their shells, you can always take the Scungilli meat and put it in your favorite pasta dish.
The Scungilli has a subtle sweetness, usually associated with its land brethren escargot. A personal favorite of mine is to pair the Scungilli with a thicker cream sauce which brings a whole new flavor profile to theo humble Scungilli; or on the lighter side, a butter/garlic drizzling can really help keep the Scungilli as the star of the dish.
Whether you’re preparing Scungilli in a traditional way, adding some to your eastern spicy stir fry, or popping them in your favorite basic broth soup to make it not so basic; these underrated stars of the seafood world are a great basis for so many high-end dishes you can make at home for the family, or prepare for a romantic date night with your loved one.
SERVINGS 4 UNITS US INGREDIENTS
- 16 ounces scungilli, sliced and cooked (can use canned)
- 2 stalks celery, chopped
- 1⁄2 cup red onion, chopped
- 2 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley (not curly!) or 2 tablespoons flat leaf parsley (not curly!)
- 8 ounces sliced and pitted black olives (drained)
- 2 tablespoons of your best olive oil
- 1 lemon, juice of, and strained
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1⁄4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- red pepper flakes (optional)
- 1 garlic clove, chopped finely
OK real easy. Rinse the canned scungilli well (I soak for a couple of seconds and then repeat one more time).
Take a medium mixing bowl. Add all the above ingredients; toss until mixed well.
Refrigerate for 30 minutes to let the flavors meld and enjoy!
This article is a reprint of a recipe from food.com
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by LA DiNardi
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