Sonoma-Style Sicilian Seafood Salad with Olive Oil, Lemon & Garlic

Dungeness crab is a West Coast speciality, popular from Baja California to Alaska.

Fresh Dungeness Crab off the boat Dungeness crab, fresh off the boat

The season varies but Dungeness crab is a winter delicacy. When you see it in the summer, it has either been frozen or come from much farther north than Sonoma County.

  • Serves about 12

Ingredients

  • Olive oil
  • 2 pounds small calamari, cleaned, tentacles separated, bodies cut into thin rings
  • Kosher salt
  • 2 pounds rock shrimp
  • Meat from 3 to 4 large Dungeness crab (see Note below)
  • Grated zest of 4 lemons
  • Extra virgin olive oil
  • Juice of 4 lemons, plus more to taste and for garnish
  • 6 garlic cloves, crushed and minced
  • Pinch red pepper flakes
  • Black pepper in a mill
  • ½ cup minced fresh Italian parsley

Directions

  1. Put some olive oil in a large sauté pan and set over medium high heat. Cook the calamari until it just loses its raw color about 45 to 60 seconds; stir continuously and do not overcook. Season lightly with salt, transfer to a large bowl and return the pan to the heat.

  2. If the pan is dry add a little more olive oil and sauté the rock shrimp until they turn opaque, about 2 to 3 minutes. Do not overcook. Season with salt and add to the bowl with the calamari. Cool to room temperature.

  3. Add the crab and lemon zest to the bowl and dress with good olive oil and plenty of lemon juice, tasting frequently until the balance of acid and oil is just right. Add the garlic, red pepper flakes, several turns of black pepper and Italian parsley, toss, cover and chill for 30 minutes before serving. If chilled longer than 30 minutes, remove from the refrigerator 15 minutes before serving.

  4. Taste, correct the seasoning, garnish with lemon wedges or slices and serve immediately.

Note: You can buy a cooked Dungeness crab at any local market and ask that it be cleaned. You should also ask when it was cooked, so that it is as fresh as possible. But the best crab is cooked at home. Here’s how: Bring a large pot of generously salted (¼ cup per gallon of water) to a boil, plunge the live crab in mouth down and cover the pan. Cook small crabs for 8 to 10 minutes, larger ones for 12 to 17 minutes. Use tongs to remove the crab from the pot and plunge it into an ice-water bath. Let rest 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the crab from the water.

To clean the crab, hold it in one hand, topside up, and with the other hand, grasp the top shell and lift it up, pulling it away from the body. Set the shell aside.

Turn the crab over and tug on the breastplate, a triangle-shaped section, lifting it up and off the crab. Turn the crab over again and remove and discard the finger-like gills on either side of the body. Remove and discard the intestine, nestled in the center of the back, and twist off the mouth. Twist off the legs and set them aside. Rinse the body under cool water and break it in half with your hands or with a large cleaver. To remove the meat from its shells, simply pick it out, being sure to remove all pieces of shell. Use a small mallet or a nutcracker to crack the legs, and use your fingers, a crab fork or the tip of a crab claw to remove the meat.

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