When I have friends and family over, I often serve seafood such as classic cioppino, bacon wrapped scallops, shrimp kabobs or this simple yet totally satisfying seafood pasta.
Whenever I go to my local Italian restaurant, I order their special mixed seafood pasta. It can get expensive to go out to eat, so I decided to recreate my favorite restaurant dish at home. This pasta features plenty of fresh seafood tossed in a homemade sauce, and I think it’s even better than the restaurant version!
How do you make seafood pasta?
This recipe starts with an easy homemade tomato sauce, which is made with garlic onions, tomato puree and seasonings. While the sauce is simmering, it’s time to cook the pasta and seafood. The shrimp and scallops are cooked first, then the mussels and clams are steamed in a bit of cooking liquid from the pasta. Toss the spaghetti, seafood and tomato sauce together, then serve and enjoy!
Tips for seafood pasta
The tomato sauce can be made up to 2 days in advance. You can store it in the refrigerator until you are ready to cook the pasta and seafood. While I prefer to make my own sauce for this recipe, you can substitute a jar of your favorite marinara sauce if you’re short on time. I use 31-40 count sized shrimp in this recipe. You can go for larger or smaller shrimp, but I find this size to be good because it’s approximately the same size as the scallops. Any mix of seafood will work here, other great options include chunks of fish, lobster or calamari. No spaghetti on hand? Try a different long pasta such as fettuccine, angel hair or linguine.
How to prepare mussels and clams
Mussels and clams taste great, but they require some special handling. You want to get live mussels and clams from the store. If the mussels or clams have open shells, tap on them and they should close, which means they’re alive and fine to eat. If the mussels and clams stay open before cooking, discard them. Live mussels and clams need to be stored in the refrigerator. They should only be stored for one to two days and you want to store them in open containers in the refrigerator with a damp towel on top. Although they live in the sea, they should not be stored in water and if any water accumulates in the container, it should be drained every day. If the clams and mussels don’t smell like the sea, or they smell off, discard them. Before cooking clams or mussels, place them in a bowl of cold water for about 20 minutes. This allows the shellfish to expel sand. Remove the shellfish from the water and discard the sandy water. Remove the beards (the little furry bit from the flat side) from mussels. You can remove the beards by pulling by hand on the fibers toward the hinge of the mussel. You can hold the mussels with a towel to get a better grip and protect your hands. Scrub the shellfish with a brush under cold water to remove any dirt, sand, or broken shell bits. After you have cooked the shellfish, discard any that don’t open during the cooking process.
HOW LONG TO COOK SEAFOOD
The seafood ingredients in this recipe cook at different rates, so you’ll want to cook the shrimp and scallops first, then remove them when you cook the clams and mussels so that they don’t get overcooked and tough.
Clams: 4-6 minutes Scallops: 3-4 minutes Mussels: 3-4 minutes Shrimp: 2-3 minutes
Everyone will be so impressed when you serve up this delectable seafood pasta. I love to serve it for special occasions because it always gets rave reviews.
More great seafood recipes
Baked Salmon with Garlic Butter Shrimp Tacos with Mango Salsa Bacon Wrapped Scallops Shrimp Ceviche New Orleans BBQ Shrimp
