comScore
Skip to main content
Search
ADVERTISEMENT
Beat Bobby Flay: Holiday Throwdown

10 Recipes for Your Seven Fishes Dinner

by Leslie Wu
updated January 4, 2024

Chef Bobby Flay is on the hook this year with a Feast of Seven Fishes Holiday Throwdown, battling against the Pellegrino family behind the famed Italian restaurant Rao’s. Although Bobby only has to take on three dishes, we’ve got 10 suggestions — both traditional and a little less so — to help you try your own version of this celebration at home.

A Seven Fishes dinner can take many forms. Although the tradition has roots in the Italian feast on La Vigilia, or Christmas Eve, and Catholic proscriptions against meat on certain days, the Feast of Seven Fishes is more commonly attributed to Italian-American origins. Small plates are crucial here in order to ensure everyone makes it through the abundance of offerings. Feel free to choose some of our suggestions below or use your personal favourites to create your own version to celebrate each holiday season with friends and family.

Watch Beat Bobby Flay: Holiday Throwdown on Food Network Canada. Stream Live or On-Demand with STACKTV. Try it free today!

You May Also Like: Bobby Flay’s Best Holiday Brunch Recipes

ADVERTISEMENT
1/10

Seafood Fritto Misto (Fried Mixed Seafood)

The feast typically begins with a fritto misto, or assortment of fried seafood — a delicious passed appetizer or first course to kick off the abundance of food to come. This version uses easily sourced shrimp and calamari enrobed in a polenta-based batter for extra crunch. Choose your favourite tartar or seafood sauce, or just strew lemon wedges artfully on the side, depending on your preference.

You May Also Like: Sweet and Spicy Kung Pao Shrimp

Get the recipe
Hong Kong shrimp toast on a platter
2/10

Golden, Crispy Hong Kong Shrimp Toast

For a slightly more international take on the fritto misto tradition, these shrimp toasts are a playful hors d’oeuvre to start off the meal. Minced shrimp is spread on white bread, coated in sesame seeds and deep fried until crispy — a perfect finger food on their own or with Worcestershire sauce as a vinegary dip.

Get the recipe
Spicy lobster pasta
3/10

Spicy Lobster Pasta

Although an Italian Seven Fishes dinner doesn’t necessarily follow the same structure as a menu with primi, secondi and others, offering a pasta at this point in the meal is a nice nod to this format. This tagliatelle dish combines Flay-favourite Calabrian chill paste with lobster, plenty of fresh basil and fresh parmesan to make a spicy and luxurious pasta dish.

Related: Our Favourite Canadian Seafood Restaurants From Coast to Coast

Get the recipe
ADVERTISEMENT
Cocoa-orange fish being prepared
4/10

Cocoa-Rubbed Fish With Fresh Oranges and Crunchy Benne Seeds

Offering a more substantial secondi with modern flare, this spectacular cocoa-rubbed fish draws its roots from the African diaspora (and similarly named cookbook). Be sure to use unsweetened cocoa — you’re aiming for savoury notes, not the sweetness of a cup of hot chocolate.

Get the recipe
Pomegranate glazed salmon
AIP-friendly 20-Minute Pomegranate Molasses Glazed Salmon
5/10

Pomegranate Molasses Glazed Salmon

The richness of salmon gets tamed slightly with a sweet-tart glaze of pomegranate molasses in this pretty in pink dish. Fillets can be cut in half or quarters to keep portions small, as guests may be filling up at this point in the meal.

Get the recipe
plate of tuna and white bean salad with pickled onions and jammy eggs
6/10

Tuna and White Bean Salad with Pickled Onions and Jammy Eggs

Something a little lighter at this point in the menu might be appreciated by your guests and the pickled onions in this salad offer just that right amount of vinegary bite to pique the tastebuds. Using a quality oil-packed tuna (or even a tuna ventresca, which comes from the belly of the fish for extra fattiness) will give this salad a special occasion feeling.

You May Also Like: Feel Good Fall Salad

Get the recipe
ADVERTISEMENT
seafood risotto with crab and scallops on a plate
7/10

Seafood Risotto with Crab and Scallops

A risotto is a crowd pleaser on most tables, and this seafood version with crab and scallops is a perfect addition to a Feast of Seven Fishes dinner. Chef Lynn Crawford adds a bit of heat with some small Thai red chilies, and plenty of fresh herbs and lemon add brightness on the finish.

You May Also Like: Panfried Pickerel

Get the recipe
dish of paella in a metal pan
8/10

Paella De Mariscos

You may need to choose between this dish and the risotto to avoid a carb overload (or serve them both as an over-the-top celebration). The crispiness of the socarratat the bottom of the paella pan is for true connoisseurs of the form, so bring the whole cooking vessel to the table and let people dig in for a communal celebration of scallops, mussels, shrimp and Bomba rice.

You May Also Like: Campfire Paella

Get the recipe
Two pots of mussels on a wooden table
9/10

Individual Mussel Pots

Scale down the proportions slightly per serving and give each person at the table their own pot of fragrant mussels. Once you’ve made the fragrant broth, preparation couldn’t be easier — a quick steam and the mussels are ready to enjoy.
Get the recipe
ADVERTISEMENT
10/10

Squid Ink Rigatoni

We’ve got room for one more pasta, right? Bear with us — this squid ink rigatoni is spectacular, with hand rolled noodles and tuna prosciutto meatballs. The whole dish is bathed in a sauce made from velvety lobster stock and is a winning way to finish off your meal.
You May Also Like: Rigatoni Pie
Get the recipe