Fritto Misto

Photo by Michael Piazza / Styled by Catrine Kelty / Recipe by New Deal Fish Market, Cambridge
Fritto Misto is a term used in Italy and means “mixed fry.” In our home, it is tradition to have a seafood feast on Christmas Eve and fritto misto is one of the many courses. This recipe is very easy to prepare and can be served as a main course or appetizer.

Serves 4 as a main course or 6 as an appetizer

8 medium to small smelts or 8 small whiting, scaled and gutted
8 medium squid and tentacles, cleaned and cut into small rings
16 medium or large shrimp (26/30 count per pound weight), peeled and de-veined
8 fresh sardines, scaled and gutted
8 small monkfish chunks, skinned and de-boned
frying oil (grapeseed/canola or canola mixed with olive oil)
all-purpose flour
salt and pepper to taste
lemon wedges, for serving
minced flat leaf Italian parsley, for garnish

Rinse the cleaned seafood and pat it dry.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium-high (there should be at least ¼-inch, or more, of frying oil in the pan).

While pan is heating, place some flour and some of the seafood in a bowl and coat each piece with flour, shaking off excess and placing carefully in the hot oil.  (You may need 2 frying pans to fry all seafood at once depending on the size of your pans.) Fry seafood on each side for 2–4 minutes, or until crisp and lightly browned. Remove from the oil and place on a large serving dish/tray lined with 2 or 3 paper towels to absorb excess oil. Repeat with remaining seafood.

Transfer fried seafood onto another tray, garnish with parsley, season with salt and serve immediately with lemon wedges to squeeze at the table.

This recipe appeared in the Winter 2013 issue as part of a larger story on The Feast of the Seven Fishes.