Recipe: Snail Salad (or Conch Salad)

the appetizer:

Take a seafood taste tour with The New England Clam Shack Cookbook by Brooke Dojny, including recipes like Roast Clams; Snail Salad; and Wellfleet Oysters on the Half Shell.

Cookbook

Snail Salad (or Conch Salad)

6 to 8 servings

You see more Mediterranean-influenced dishes on menus in Rhode Island than anywhere else in New England, no doubt because of the large Italian and Portuguese populations that have lived in the state for generations. This snail salad is a delicious case in point. These are large sea snails—sometimes called conch—that are boiled and chilled, and the flavorful meat is thinly sliced.

4 cups thinly sliced cooked snail or conch (see Note)
1/2 cup olive oil
2 teaspoons mixed Italian herb blend
1/4 cup finely diced carrots
1/4 cup finely chopped celery
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
1/4 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
2 teaspoons minced garlic
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 large Boston lettuce leaves
Lemon wedges

1. In a large bowl combine the conch, olive oil, Italian herbs, carrots, celery, red onion, bell pepper, and garlic. Toss together and season with salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate for several hours or overnight.

2. Spoon the salad onto a bed of lettuce, garnish with lemon wedges, and serve.

NOTE: Champlin's restaurant buys their conch in cans, already sliced, from Rome Seafood in Boston. Champlin's retail seafood market under the restaurant often sells whole cooked snails, which you should slice paper-thin before using.