Angel Hair Pasta with Seafood Sauce

Angel hair pasta is very thin and very easy to overcook.
My trick is to drain the pasta when it is very al dente -- firm to the tooth --
and to let it finish cooking in the sauce.
You’ll be surprised at the difference this can make.

1 pound (about 24) frozen, deveined large shrimp

1/2 pound sea scallops

16 littleneck clams, shucked, or 16 clams in the shell

8 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

6 large garlic cloves, peeled and crushed

2 cups peeled, seeded and crushed tomatoes

1 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes

3 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley

1 pound Angel Hair Pasta

Prepare the seafood:
Peel off the tails from the shrimp.
Remove the hard white nub attached to the side of the scallops
and slice the scallops in half horizontally.
Drain the clams,
straining the juice through a sieve
lined with a damp kitchen towel.
Chop the clams coarsely and
set the clams and juice aside separately.

In a large pot, bring 6 quarts of salted water to a boil.
In a heavy, medium skillet,
heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil over medium heat.
Add the garlic and cook, shaking the skillet,
until lightly browned, about 2 minutes.
Add the tomatoes and pepper flakes.
Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to simmering and simmer,
stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened, about 20 minutes.

In a heavy, large skillet,
heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil over medium-high heat.
Add the scallops and cook,
shaking the pan until the excess moisture evaporates
and the scallops begin to change color, about 30 seconds.
Stir in the shrimp and stir gently,
just until they begin to change color, about 1 minute.
Stir in the clams and immediately pour in the clam juice,
being careful not to include any sand, if any,
from the bottom of the container.
Raise heat to high and shake the pan, until the liquid comes to a boil.
Taste the liquid and adjust the seasoning if necessary.
Add the tomato sauce to the seafood and bring to a boil, shaking the pan.
Stir in 2 tablespoons olive oil and the parsley.
Stir well, check the seasonings, adjusting if necessary.
Set aside.

Stir the Angel Hair Pasta into the boiling water.
Cook just until the pasta is softened enough
to bend freely when lifted from the water, about 11/2 minutes.
The pasta will still be quite hard to the bite.
Reserve about 1 cup of the pasta cooking water and drain the pasta.
Return the pasta to the pot and place over medium-low heat.
Add about three-quarters of the sauce and seafood.

Cook, stirring, until the pasta is al dente and coated with the sauce.
Add some of the reserved pasta cooking water as necessary if the pasta appears dry.
Stir in the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil and transfer to a warm serving platter.
Spoon the remaining sauce over the pasta.

ENJOY!

For our Pizzeria Favorites...click on the Pizzeria Sign below.

This site was started in January, 2009 and maintained by Krafty Web Designs.
All images on this site were created by Krafty Web Designs.
This site is best optimized for 800 x 600 monitor resolution.
Best viewed in MSIE4.0 & Netscape 4.0 or better.
Copyright © 2006-present.  All rights reserved.
Site last updated Friday, June 04, 2010 05:31 PM

Every image on this site is the property of Krafty Web Designs and
GreatItalianCooking, and may not be reproduced,
downloaded or linked to in any way.
Everything within this site is not public domain and may not be altered in anyway.