Seafood Arrabbiata

My boyfriend and I have been trying to eat less meat and increase our seafood, shellfish, and vegetarian dinner options. In general, vegetarian and fish dinner options are also a great choice for a weeknight dinner because they take very little time to prepare.

 

This recipe for Seafood Arrabbiata from Cooking Light incorporates a few different types of shellfish into a spicy tomato broth that is served over pasta.

“Arrabbiata” means “angry” in Italian alluding to the spiciness of the dish. You can alter the spices to your liking. I’d suggest adding very little crushed red pepper, and then having a shaker of red pepper when serving so each person can customize their level of heat.

Ingredients (serves 4):

• 1 (16oz box) uncooked linguine
• 2 tablespoons chili olive oil, divided  (I used Nudo Olive Oil with Sicilian Chillies), (can substitute regular olive oil)
• 8 ounces sea scallops
• 8 ounces peeled and deveined medium shrimp
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper (or 1/2 teaspoon if using regular olive oil)
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon anchovy paste, optional
• 1 (28oz) can diced tomatoes
• 1/2 cup tomato puree
• 1/2 cup clam juice
• 24 littleneck clams
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, plus more for garnish

Before beginning, add the clams to a large bowl and cover the clams with water.

Bring a large pasta pot of water to a boil. While waiting for the water to boil, heat 1 tablespoon chili oil or olive in a large skillet over medium-high heat.

Season the scallops with salt and pepper and add to the pan and cook for 1-2 minutes on each side, or until lightly browned.

Remove from pan, transfer to a plate, and keep warm. Repeat with the shrimp – season with salt and pepper and cook for 1 minute on each side, or until pink. Add to the same plate as the scallops.

Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil in the pan over medium-high heat and add the onion, red pepper, and garlic. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

At this point, if your water is boiling, add the pasta and cook according to package directions for al dente. Before draining, reserve 1/4 cup pasta water, then drain and add the pasta back to the pasta pot. Add the scallops and shrimp to the pasta pot as well.

Add the tomato paste and anchovy paste if using, stirring to combine.

Stir in the diced tomatoes and tomato puree.

Bring to a boil and cook for 2 minutes. Add in the clam juice and the reserved pasta water and cook for another minute.

Drain your clams by removing them one by one from the water (don’t pour the water over the clams to drain or any sand extracted will just be deposited back on the clams).

Add the clams to the sauce, cover, and reduce heat to medium.

Cook for 10 minutes or until clams open. (After 10 minutes, give the pan a good side-to-side shake with the lid still on. The clams should open when you do so.

Pour the clams and sauce into the pasta pot with the pasta, tossing to coat.

Add parsley and stir to combine.

Spoon into bowls and serve.

The heat came through nicely, but if you really like heat, you might want to add an additional ¼ teaspoon of the crushed red pepper at the beginning, or just adding a sprinkle more over your serving.

The sauce coats the pasta nicely and I loved the chunks of tomatoes!