This week’s recipe is an Italian seafood dish with a mild kick. Both gives us reason to go out and buy a nice bottle of chianti to go along with dinner.
Ingredients — serves four
3 cans crushed tomatoes
1 small onion, chopped
10 cloves garlic, sliced, divided
2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
6 pieces calamari, sliced into rings
1/2 lb calamari tentacles (if not attached to the body)
1 3/4 lbs shrimp (I ended up with about
1 lb of colossal and 3/4 large)
6 mussels
6 little neck clams
6 large sea scallops (mine were quite huge)
1 1/2 lbs dry pasta, cooked al dente
parsley
olive oil
Directions
It’s best to cook your pasta sauce the night before. This gives you time to concentrate on the seafood.
In a large pot, over medium heat, add a few Tbsp of olive oil, onion, red pepper flakes and about five cloves of garlic. Sauté until softened. Add in the canned tomatoes, season with salt and pepper and simmer for two hours. Then cook your pasta to al dente, drain and toss with a little bit of olive oil to prevent sticking.
Sauté your scallops, shrimp and calamari in a large pan over medium low heat. Add a couple Tbsp of olive oil and sauté the remaining garlic before seasoning with salt and pepper. Add the mussels and clams and enough sauce to just cover the seafood, and allow to simmer on low for another 10 minutes until the clams and mussels open up.
Once the clams and mussels open, your meal is done. Add your seafood atop a large serving bowl of pasta. Add enough sauce to coat the pasta and sprinkle your dish with some freshly chopped parsley.
Pairing
Castello di Volpaia Chianti
Classico Riserva 2012
Castello Di Volpaia Winery — Tuscany, Italy
The winery notes state the Chianti Classico Reserva is aged for 24 months, giving it an elegant and intense aroma with hints of spices and fruity scents. Ultimately, the taste offers floral, strawberry, cherry and spice flavors, which compliment this dish.