Italian spaghetti with shrimp and other shellfish in a flavorful broth that is perfect for dunking slices of toasted baguette.
Spaghetti allo Scoglio
By Sue Lau | Palatable Pastime
This month for Fish Friday Foodies, the bloggers are posting about seafood pasta. And for my selection I decided on Spaghetti allo Scoglio, which means spaghetti prepared in the way of the seashore, where shellfish are harvested.
It’s quite a simple recipe as long as you don’t fear the shellfish. Go for shellfish that have a wonderful sweet scent to them, like good crab. Avoid any that reek of ammonia. Once you have them, you’ll want to use those as soon as possible.
Generally, I fill the kitchen sink with heavily salted cold water and add the mussels and clams. I’ll toss out any with cracks or ones that look like they died with their mouths open. If they are open, give them a tap, which if they are alive, they will close up tight. But let those sit in the cold water for about a couple of hours, so they can filter the water and spit out any extra silt or sand they might be harboring. When you come back, go ahead and stick your finger down towards the drain to see what they got rid of that you didn’t have to eat.
After that, making the sauce is dead simple- I do it brothy, similar to the way I do moules marinieres. It just takes a couple of minutes. And I swear, every time I make shellfish I ask myself why I don’t make it more often.
It’s so quick and easy.
Bill has deemed this broth “delightful”. He went back into the kitchen after he finished his plate and was picking around the extra shellfish like the guy in the “Christmas Story” movie that picks around the Thanksgiving turkey. So we know it was a winner.
The best part for me was dunking the toasted bread into the broth. I am simple that way. I could survive on that with a glass of wine. Not that healthy to just eat bread, but dang. That broth! Yum.
Oh and feel free to switch up the shellfish if there’s one you don’t like. Or peel your shrimp ahead, but I do find cooking them whole adds to the flavor.
Don’t miss the other fish and seafood recipes today in the linkup. Also, I should have another chocolate post up unless the world blows up suddenly. Butterfinger Crunch Cookie Bars. And Saturday I am posting with Soup Swappers with my recipe for mashed potato soup, which is wonderful this time of year when you find yourself with leftover spuds, as I always do on Thanksgiving, since I always want to have more than enough for everyone. But to be true, you can also cook the potatoes fresh and buzz them up with the stick blender.
~s
Spaghetti allo Scoglio
Allow 1-2 hours time to soak the shellfish before cooking
Ingredients:
- 2 dozen fresh mussels
- 1 dozen fresh littleneck clams
- 16 ounces dry spaghetti, cooked al dente
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 cup sliced Calabrian chili peppers in oil
- 1/2 cup roasted garlic cloves
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 2 cups clam stock
- 1/2 teaspoon anchovy paste
- pinch red pepper flakes
- salt and black pepper to taste
- 1/3 pound bay scallops
- 1/3 pound squid tubes, scored and sliced into strips or rings
- 1/2 pound head on large shrimp
- 1 cup fresh cherry tomatoes, halved
- 2 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh basil (chiffonade)
- toasted French bread
Method:
- Inspect clams and mussels and discard any that will not close when tapped; also discard any with cracks. Then pull beards from shellfish (it looks like pieces of stuck seaweed by the shell edge) and scrub clean with a brush.
- Soak the shellfish in plenty of cold heavily salted water for about an hour or two to allow them time to eject as much silt and sand as possible. Drain the shellfish when ready to cook.
- Cook the spaghetti in boiling salted water until al dente then drain and keep warm.
- Heat the butter in a large deep skillet (one that has a lid) and add the peppers, garlic cloves and white wine, allowing the wine to cook down to nil.
- Add the clam stock, anchovy paste, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper and bring to a boil.
- Add all the shellfish to the pan and top with cherry tomatoes.
- Cover with a tight fitting lid and allow to cook for several minutes or until mussels and clams have opened and shrimp are opaque and lightly curled.
- Discard any shellfish that are not open when done cooking.
- Toss broth and shellfish with spaghetti, garnish with fresh basil, and serve with toasted French bread slices.
From the kitchen of palatablepastime.com
Fish Friday Foodies
“Fish & Seafood Pasta”
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I want to dive right into that plate, Sue! It looks and sounds great! P~
Thanks for the tips on the clams and mussels. I have made clams a couple of times and love them, but I’m always so nervous about killing them if I leave them under water too long. This sounds so good!
What a beautiful dish, Sue! Thanks for sharing. I can’t wait to make this.
That looks and sounds delicious – love all the flavors!
I want to come to your house for dinner. Save me some of that bread. Sopping up the juices is the best part.
This has my mouth watering. I love seafood, so I am ready to dive in!