The secret to a great linguine ai frutti di mare is to use fresh seafood and to use the juices of the vongole and a stock made from the shrimp heads and shells for the sauce. It is a bit of work to make the stock and clean the fresh seafood, but it is oh so delicious if you love seafood. It can’t be compared to seafood pasta made with mixed frozen seafood, which is tough, hardly has any flavor, and doesn’t provide the flavorful ‘sauce’. The ingredients for this marvelous dish are simply pasta and seafood with a bit of olive oil, white wine, garlic, parsley, salt, and pepper. Linguine is a flat type of spaghetti and it is often served with a seafood sauce. If you can’t find linguine, spaghetti will be fine too.

If you have access to fresh seafood, take advantage and prepare this pasta dish. You won’t regret it.

Ingredients

For 3 servings

225 grams (.5 lb) linguine

500 grams (1.1 lb) vongole (or other small clams)

9 large shrimp with heads and shells

6 small squid

250 ml (1 cup) dry white wine

1 clove garlic

1 Tbsp minced fresh flat leaf parsley

extra virgin olive oil

salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preparation

Combine 500 ml (2 cups) water with 15 grams (2 tsp) of salt and stir well to make water that is as salty as the sea. Put the vongole in this water for an hour to allow them to purge themselves of sand and other impurities.

Meanwhile, peel the shrimp and reserve the heads and shells.

Sauté the heads and shells in a bit of olive oil until they are orange on all sides.

Add the white wine…

…and an equal amount of water as well as the stems of the parsley. Bring to a boil.

Lower the heat, cover, and allow to simmer for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, clean the squid.

Start by pulling on the part with the legs and eyes while holding the main part. You will tear the squid in two. Now remove everything that is inside the main part, both the bone and the squishy stuff, and discard that.

Cut off the legs just below the eyes and discard the part with the eyes.

Peel the skin off the main part.

Cut the main part in rings of about 1 cm (1/2 inch) wide. Roughly chop the legs as well.

Repeat with all of the squid.

By now the shrimp stock should be done.

Pour the shrimp stock with the heads and shells into a china cap.

Use a pestle to squeeze all the tasty juices from the heads and shells.

Put the shrimp stock in a wide pan, bring to a simmer, and simmer until reduced to just 4 tablespoons or so.

Rinse the vongole with cold water to remove the salt. Put the vongole in a pan with a bit of water of white wine over high heat. Cover and cook over high heat…

…until all the vongole have opened.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add salt and the linguine.

Heat 4 Tbsp olive oil in a non-stick frying pan. Add the garlic and stir once or twice. It is important not to allow the garlic to get brown, as that will give the garlic a bitter taste that will overpower the delicate flavors of the seafood.

Add the shrimp.

Add the squid.

Add the concentrated shrimp stock.

Cook over medium heat until the shrimp is just cooked through.

Add the clams and the juices they released.

Drain the linguine into a colander about a minute before cooked al dente according to the package instructions. Add the drained linguine to the seafood.

Add the parsley.

Cook the linguine together with the seafood for a minute to marry the flavors. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt (probably not needed) and freshly ground black pepper.

Serve at once on warm plates.

Wine pairing

Almost any unoaked Italian dry white will do, such as Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi or Gavi di Gavi.

Flashback

An artichoke salad is a simple antipasto, perfect for the summer and best to prepare sous-vide for maximum flavor and tender artichokes with some bite to them as well. Most of the work goes into cleaning them, but fresh artichokes are so much better than from a jar or can. As is usual with antipasti, you just need some good olive oil and a bit of parsley to turn some artichokes into a great antipasto.