Last Night at Chez Bart: Spaghetti alla Pirata

Spaghetti alla Pirata

Another recipe from Giada de Laurentiis' Everyday Pasta; I felt the desire to make this dish when I saw that the sauce was made in a similar fashion to what I had learned during my trip to Italy. It also calls for crushed red pepper flakes, which I love to use in Italian cooking.

Fresh seafood!

Store Notes: As with any seafood dish, shellfish can get expensive - especially when you increase the size of the fish. I opted to cook with the medium sized shrimp, which ended up costing around $7.50 for the pound it required. It also calls for 2lbs of clams (though I substituted those for scallops and squid; more on that later), adding to the cost.

Prep Notes: Quite a bit of prep work in this dish; it requires the preparation of the sauce (more like a salsa) before the pasta and seafood are cooked. Ingredients, including: chunks of parmesan cheese, whole cherry tomatoes, and fresh basil; are added with oil and other seasonings into a food processor. There, the ingredients are pulsed to a coarse chop.

The sauce, once removed from the food processor

The shrimp, tossed with oil and red pepper flakes

To prep the seafood: olive oil, red pepper flakes, and salt are whisked into a bowl. This liquid is then used to coat the shrimp, and with the addition of lemon juice, will eventually become the cooking liquid for the clams. 

Sautéing the shrimp

Cook Notes: To boil the pasta, use a stock pot with plenty of water. Add kosher salt LIBERALLY. I cannot stress this enough; do not shy away from adding salt to the water. While the water is heating to boil, heat up a sauté pan to medium heat. Using a slotted spoon (this keeps the liquid for the clams), add the shrimp once the pan has reached temperature and sauté. Once the shrimp are cooked, transfer them to another bowl. Add the lemon juice and clams to the liquid, toss, and pour into the sauté pan. Cover, and cook until all the clams are open. REMEMBER: clams that do not open are bad and should be thrown away.

In a large bowl, toss the seafood, pasta, and sauce. Remember, when draining the pasta, save some of the water to add to the large bowl for tossing with the sauce and seafood. 

The end result: delish'!

Tasting Notes: The sauce: with the fresh basil, cherry tomatoes, and garlic; reminds me of one of the cooking classes I took in Italy. There, we took whole cherry tomatoes and squeezed them to create a sauce for cannelloni beans. This recipe, which has a bit more gusto due to the basil and garlic, tastes just as fresh and wonderful. 

Now, when I made this dish, I substituted the clams for scallops and squid. If I were to remake this, I would have foregone the squid and increased the scallops. The reason was the liquid that squid retains. The second I dropped it on the hot sauté pan, water started to fill the pan and turning a basic sauté into a boil. Nevertheless, I managed to make due, and the end result turned out very nice

Of course the shrimp were the true centerpiece of this dish. They had just enough spice to balance the sweetness - even richness, due to the olive oil - of the sauce. 

Libation Notes: This dish has a nice balance of flavors, and as such I wouldn't want to over-power it. A Pinot Grigio would certainly do nicely, as would a Sangiovese. Given the spice of the dish, I might be more keen in selecting a white over a red, though a Rosé could work if this dish is prepared in the summer. 

Overall: Not difficult to make, but requires some preparation. A really easy way to make a fresh and tasty seafood pasta dish. The tomato, basil, and garlic combines wonderfully with seafood and spiciness of the shrimp.