Mrs. B. Cooks...Linguine with Seafood

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This is one of my favorite recipes!  It's also one of the most adjustable.  Don't have clams?  Use mussles instead.  No calamari?  No biggy, just skip it.  When I made it this last time, I was out of parsley (so don't look for it in the photos, lol!).  While I wish I'd had it, I certainly wasn't

 going to not eat it, lol!  It's also a recipe that just looks cool when you serve the seafood in the shells - and even better, it's really quite fast, and there isn't anything hard in making it.  

Let's look at the ingredients:  

shrimp, clams, calamari, white wine, linguine, olive oil, garlic, red peppers,  salt and parsley. And, like I said before, you can switch the seafood up if you'd like. Add or substitute mussels, you can use canned minced clams in a pinch, leave out the calamari - the only thing I would never do without is the shrimp.  You'll see why in a minute.

First things first, you'll need to start a large pot of water to boil.  When it reaches a full rolling boil, add 1 Tbsp salt (adding it to the water after it boils keeps the salt from discoloring your pan) and the linguine. Cook to the package directions.  When it's done, drain it thoroughly, drizzle with 1 Tbsp or so of the olive oil, toss well to coat the pasta and set aside (the oil will keep it from sticking to itself too badly).

Meanwhile, remove all the shells from your shrimp, devein if it hasn't been done already, and set the shrimp aside.  Take your shells and add them and 1 cup of water to a large saucepan.  Bring the water and shells to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. 

 Continue to simmer until the liquid is reduced by about 1/2.  Strain the liquid into a bowl and set aside.  You can toss out those shells now.

In the pan, add 2 Tbsp of olive oil and turn the burner on to medium heat. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes, stirring constantly for about 30 seconds:

 then add in the wine, shrimp broth and the clams (which you have already scrubbed and rinsed well, right?). 

Cover the pan, cover, and simmer for about 5 minutes.  After 5 minutes, add the shrimp (and well scrubbed mussels if you are using them), cover and simmer for another 3 minutes or so.  The shrimp should be pink and the clams (and/or mussels) should be open at this point.  

If the any of the shells are not open, throw those away.  

Toss in the pasta, the calamari (if you're using it) and the parsley (which I didn't have for the pictures).  Use 2 wooden spoons or a pasta fork to toss everything for a minute or two, until the calamari is cooked through. Remove from heat, season with salt and drizzle with a little olive oil.  

Serve immediately with a nice crusty bread for sopping up the juices and a glass of that white wine!

You might also want to check out How to Pick, Store and Cook Mussels.