Linguine Frutti di Mare

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

A Gulf-coast-Italian plate of linguine tangled with clams, mussels, shrimp, calamari and scallops in a bright tomato and white wine broth. The trick that makes it restaurant-good at home is timing: each type of seafood goes into the pan by how long it needs, so nothing turns to rubber. A bag of frozen mixed shellfish plus a few fresh add-ons keeps it weeknight-possible.

Ingredients

• 1 lb littleneck clams, scrubbed
• 1 lb mussels, scrubbed and debearded
• 12 oz large shrimp (21/25), peeled and deveined, tails on
• 8 oz calamari, bodies sliced into 1/3-inch rings, tentacles halved
• 6 oz bay scallops or quartered sea scallops
• Or substitute a 2 lb bag frozen mixed seafood, thawed and drained well, plus 1 lb fresh clams or mussels

• 1 lb dried linguine
• 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 1 small shallot, minced
• 3/4 tsp red pepper flakes
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 1/4 cups dry white wine (Pinot Grigio or Vermentino)
• 1 28-oz can whole San Marzano tomatoes, crushed by hand
• 1 cup bottled clam juice or seafood stock
• 1 pinch sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt, plus more for pasta water
• 3 tbsp unsalted butter, cold

• 1/2 cup flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• 8 leaves fresh basil, torn
• 1 lemon, zested and cut into wedges
• 2 tbsp good finishing olive oil
• Freshly cracked black pepper

Instructions

1. Prep everything before you turn on a burner — this dish moves fast at the end. Pat the shrimp, calamari and scallops very dry on paper towels and keep them on separate parts of a sheet pan in the refrigerator. Discard any clams or mussels that are cracked or that stay open when tapped.
2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt it heavily (about 2 tablespoons kosher salt per 4 quarts). Do not add the pasta yet.
3. In a wide 12-inch skillet or a shallow Dutch oven, warm the 1/3 cup olive oil over medium heat. Add the sliced garlic, shallot and red pepper flakes and cook 2 to 3 minutes, stirring, until the garlic is pale gold and fragrant. Do not let it brown past that point.
4. Stir in the tomato paste and cook 1 minute until it darkens to brick red. Pour in the white wine, raise the heat to medium-high and simmer 3 to 4 minutes until reduced by about half and no longer smells sharp.
5. Add the hand-crushed tomatoes with their juice, the clam juice, the pinch of sugar and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt. Bring to a simmer and cook uncovered 12 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened but still loose and brothy. Taste and adjust salt now, before the seafood goes in.
6. Drop the linguine into the boiling water and set a timer for 2 minutes less than the package's al dente time. While it cooks, start the seafood staggering.
7. Stage 1 (clams): raise the sauce to a strong simmer, add the clams, cover and cook 4 minutes. Stage 2 (mussels): add the mussels, re-cover and cook 3 to 4 minutes more, until most shells have opened. Use tongs to move the opened shellfish to a bowl and cover loosely with foil; discard any that refuse to open after another minute.
8. Stage 3 (shrimp and scallops): add the shrimp and scallops to the simmering broth, stir once, and cook uncovered 2 minutes. Stage 4 (calamari): add the calamari rings and tentacles and cook exactly 60 to 90 seconds — they turn opaque and firm fast, and any longer makes them chewy. Kill the heat under the sauce.
9. Reserve 1 cup of pasta water, then drain the linguine (it will be firmly underdone). Add it directly to the skillet along with 1/2 cup pasta water and the cold butter. Return to medium heat and toss constantly for 2 minutes, until the pasta finishes cooking, the butter emulsifies and the sauce coats every strand. Add more pasta water a splash at a time if it tightens.
10. Fold the clams and mussels back in along with the parsley, basil and lemon zest. Toss for 20 seconds just to reheat the shells. Divide among four warm wide bowls, arranging the shellfish on top, drizzle with finishing olive oil, crack over black pepper and serve immediately with lemon wedges.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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