Frutti di Mare (Fruits of the Sea) is a favorite, and there are any number of variations you will find along the Italian coast and islands. This is a great rendition, you can add or subtract any fresh seafood you like, be it crab, local white fish like grouper or snapper, or even salmon if you like, etc. You are only limited by your imagination and what you enjoy and what is available fresh in your area. The fresher the seafood, the better! Serve with choice of pasta–I like Linguini as well as Paccheri (larger than Rigatoni, without ridges), I like how some of the seafood “hides out” inside the large packets, as well as the long strands of linguini with the sauce. Always cook the pasta “al dente” preferably a couple minutes more firm than you would like it when you eat it, because it will continue to cook as you marry the pasta with the “sauce” ingredients on the stove over heat and you toss to serve it. The pasta and sauce should be well tossed and amalgamated, the pasta finishes cooking to “al dente” (still slightly firm) after it has simmered and been tossed, it should be plated and brought to the table still steaming!
Serves 4-5
Ingredients:
2 tablespoon (tbsp) olive oil
4 cloves garlic, sliced
1 tsp Red pepper flakes (optional, more at the table if you like it hot!)
1 cup dry white wine (something you would drink, like a Chardonnay or Pinot Grigio)
1 lb. linguine (or pasta of your choice)
1 28-ounce can San Marzano Tomatoes (or can use tomato puree instead)
12 black mussels (well rinsed and soaked to remove grit)
12 little neck or Manila clams (well rinsed and soaked to remove grit)
1 cup calamari tubes and tentacles, as desired (have your fishmonger clean and slice it for you if you don’t want to get involved)
8 shrimp, shelled and deveined
4 sea scallops, quartered
2-4 oz. lobster tails cut into small pieces
1 cup fresh basil and/or fresh Italian parsley
Directions:
Boil water in a large pot for pasta, generously salt the water. Reserve a cup of the cooking water in a measuring cup when the pasta is done. Heat oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Cook garlic until it sizzles, don’t let it burn, add red pepper flakes while sautéing the garlic. Add the linguine to boiling water. Cook until shy of al dente, reserve a cup of the cooking water.
Add tomatoes to the sauté pan. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Let cook several minutes, if whole canned tomatoes, help break them apart as they cook. Add the wine, lobster tail meat, all seafood besides mussels and shrimp. Cook for about 4-5 minutes. Then add shrimp and mussels and place lid on top for about 3 minutes. When mussels have opened, toss with the pasta over medium heat. Add splash of pasta cooking water if the sauce is too tight, if too thin, allow it to reduce a minute or two. Discard any clams or mussels that have not opened. Add basil in to toss, divide among bowls and serve with garnish of fresh parsley. Optional drizzle with high quality extra virgin olive oil in the bowls off the heat, optional shaved bottarga on top. This does NOT call for cheese.
Note: can always make the lobster tails the center of attention and either leave them intact in their shells or keep the tail meat whole and plate one tail per person if desired.
