Made with fresh lemon juice, celery, red onion, garlic and parsley, Scungilli salad is a simple yet delicious Italian dish that is incredibly easy to make. If you love seafood, don’t hesitate to try this dish.
What is scungili?
“Scungilli”, derived from the Italian word “conchiglia”, are essentially sea clams or conches. Scungilli sold in the United States are usually wild-caught channel conches or hump-shaped conches harvested from the northeastern coast of the Atlantic Ocean, including New England and Long Island. However, they are hard to find fresh.
These large, spiral-shelled sea snails are popular in Southern Italian and Italian-American cuisine, but the clams are also popular in places like the UK and the Caribbean.
Scungilli are delicious used in this salad recipe with a lemon and olive oil dressing or mixed into other Italian seafood salads, but they are also delicious sautéed in an Italian red-style sauce like marinara or served over pasta as a spicy “fra diavolo.”
Skungilli is rich in protein and low in fat and carbohydrates. It is also a good source of B12, folate, vitamin E, and minerals such as potassium and iron.
Recipe introduction: Scungilli salad
Scungilli salad is a traditional dish served at the “Feast of the Seven Fishes” (Festa Dei Sette Pesci), a seafood-centric Christmas Eve meal commonly found in Southern Italian and Italian-American homes.
But scungilli salad, made with fresh ingredients like cool, lemony celery, red onion, green olives, parsley and olive oil, is also the perfect seafood snack to enjoy on a warm summer day. And seafood lovers who don’t give it a chance are missing out on something delicious.
The problem with scungilli is that they are hard to find fresh. Fortunately, these days, you can find these edible molluscs cooked, sliced, and canned, and they are readily available at fish markets, Italian markets, and international grocery stores. And that is the ingredient we will use in this recipe.
I’ve included links below where you can purchase it online.
What does scuongilli taste like?
Skungili has a texture similar to perfectly cooked squid. If you like clams, you will probably like Skungili. It is soft and firm, with a mild, slightly salty, sweet and delicate flavor. There is no fishy taste, so don’t worry.
Scungilli Salad Ingredients
Scungili (cAnd): Pre-cooked, sliced, canned scuongilli are very tasty and very easy to prepare. You can usually find them in the same section as canned seafood, such as 6-ounce or 29-ounce canned clams. A 29-ounce can will make about 4-6 servings of this salad.
Some grocery stores, well-stocked with fish, sell it in Italian or international markets. You can find it in the same section as other canned seafood, such as clams.
To save you shopping time, here are some places where you can order skuungili online:
celery: I prefer to use the leafy stems closer to the center of the celery head.
The leaves add freshness, the stems are more delicate. Use one stem with large leaves or three stems with small leaves.
Red Onion: The sweet and spicy flavor of red onions blends well with other ingredients. About ¼ of a small red onion is enough.
Green Olives: Choose green olives with a salty finish. Sicilian-style green olives work great, but I often use manzanilla-style olives with pimento in them, too.
Caper: Adding capers adds a delicious, salty flavor to your salad.
parsley: Rich in herbal flavor and great with all kinds of seafood, this salad uses only the freshest ingredients.
lemon: Fresh lemon juice is the base of this salad dressing. Keep extra lemons on hand in case your lemons aren’t very juicy. Two or three are usually enough.
Extra virgin olive oil: Use the highest quality possible.
garlic: The garlic in this dish is great with fresh lemon and parsley. Add 2 cloves, finely chopped, to start. You can always add more if you like.
Chopped red pepper: It adds a little spiciness, but if you don’t like spicy food, you can skip it.
pepper + salt
How to make the best scungili 
salad
1 Preparation: Wash all vegetables (celery, onion, parsley) with water.
2 Rinse and drain: Drain all the liquid from the canned skuengilli using a strainer or sieve. Then rinse with cool water. Drain again and set aside.
3 slices: For this salad, I like to slice the celery and onion thinly. This makes for a more delicate bite. If the olives are large, cut them in half.
4 Mix all ingredients together. Mix all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and taste for seasoning. I usually add a little more lemon or salt. Chill in the fridge for up to 1 hour or overnight.
5. Provided by: Serve alone or topped with bright greens. The spicy flavor of arugula is a nice complement, but mixed greens work well too.
How long can you store scungilli salad?
To maintain optimal freshness, scungilli salad is best eaten within 3 days.
We love this dish so much, we honestly can’t keep leftovers long enough to put them in the fridge.
Scoungilli Salad Tips
Make it in advance: This salad can be made a day ahead to marinate in lemon juice. Keep in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
Add some energy: If you want to add lemon flavor, peel the zest of one lemon and add it to the salad.
Learn how to cook!
Best scungilli salad recipe
This fresh, lemony salad is traditionally served at the Italian Christmas Eve feast, the Feast of the Seven Fishes, but it’s also a great summer salad. Served with antipasto, grilled clams, and a glass of Pinot Grigio, it’s the perfect light dinner. (Low-carb, high-protein, keto-friendly, gluten-free)
ingredient
- 1 – 29 ounces ~ can Rinse and drain the scungilli.
- 3 Slice the inside of the celery stalk with the leaves (or use 2 large ones).
- 1/4 cup Red onion, thinly sliced
- 1/4 fresh Parsley, chopped
- 1/3 cup green olives
- 2-3 Lemon, juice
- 1-2 cloves Garlic, minced
- 2 A large spoon Caper
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 TBS Extra Virgin Olive Oil
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Combine all salad ingredients (except olive oil) in a medium mixing bowl and mix together.
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Add the olive oil and mix again until well combined.
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Taste and add more lemon juice, salt, or pepper if necessary.
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Serve and enjoy!
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