Your family will love this delicious spicy garlic and olive oil pasta. Pairing it with seafood really brings home some flavours that lead to clean plates at every table setting.
I would pair this with a simple pinot grigio, allowing the acidic notes of the wine to compliment the naturel citrus of the pasta
Ingredients:
- Your favorite dried spaghetti noodles (1/3 package for two serving)
- Half a pound of peeled and deveined shrimp, preferred 16 – 20 size or 21- 25 size
- Quarter pound bay scallops or small scallops
- 10 mussels (if you have available)
- ¼ bunch of washed & finely chopped fresh parsley
- 6 cloves of crushed/ sliced garlic
- ½ of a white onion sliced
- 1 or 2 sliced fresh chili peppers (depends on size & how spicy you would like it) or ¼ tablespoon of chili flakes
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 1 lemon cut in half
- Fresh ground black pepper or ground black pepper (to your own taste but with recommend 1 tablespoon)
- Salt to your own taste (if you would like to remove added salt, you can squeeze more lemon juice)
- 2 ounces of white wine (I would recommend the bottle your going to serve this with)
- 4 ounces of olive oil
Method:
First off, your going to need a large pot of water at a rolling boil. Add about four or five tablespoons of salt to the water. If the water is salted well, you won’t need to add any extra to the dish at the end.
Once the water is on and it is almost boiling, we can get started on the rest of the dish.
In a sauté pan, we are going to heat half of the olive oil (2 ounces) on medium to high heat with the garlic, onion and chili’s (fresh or dried flakes your choice).
Once your see (and smell) the garlic and onions cooking, you're ready to place the pasta into the boiling water. I'd expect the spaghetti to take six to eight minutes to cook.
Once the pasta is swimming in the boiling water, add the shrimp to the onions, garlic, & chilies.
Sauté quickly for about 2 minutes or until the shrimp is turning a red/pinkish color.
Add scallops & mussels to the sauté pan & stir for about 30 seconds to a minute. Turn the sauté pan off for a moment.
It should be time to strain your pasta.
Strain the pasta, saving a few ounces of the pasta water (you will want this for later).
Now back to your sauté pan; turn it up to as high as possible.
Add the white wine and scrape the bottom of your pan using a rubber spatula or wooden spoon (or your preference of utensil). The dark brown parts are where most of the flavor is going to come from.
Add your pasta, plus 2 or 3 ounces of that left-over pasta water. At the same time, add the rest of the olive oil, lemon, & black pepper. Bring back to a quick boil.
Sprinkle in the parsley.
Mix it & taste it before serving. You may want to add more lemon, salt, or black pepper to your preference.
You are now ready to serve.
The whole process shouldn’t take more than about 10 to 15 minutes depending on the pasta.
Plating Tips
Use a pair of tongs, lift the pasta & twist it around it. Place it into a bowl & neatly arrange the cooked seafood around the pasta.
Serve with side of lemon wedge if desired & more chili’s if you like it even more spicy.
Happy Eating!
