TABELIAAUTHENTIC RECIPE
Linguine allo ScoglioSeafood Linguine
As its name scoglio, or reef, suggests, this generous seafood pasta brings together shellfish and crustaceans from rocky coastal waters. Clams, mussels, shrimp and squid are cooked separately to draw out their flavors, then combined with a white-wine broth and linguine. The extra work brings greater depth of flavor.
AUTHENTICITY SCORE
Authenticity Score
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Ingredients (4 servings)
- Linguine320 g
- ClamsPurge for 2 hours in 3% brine: 30g salt per 1L water. Scrub just before cooking.400 g
- MusselsIn their shells; remove beards and dirt.400 g
- Shell-on shrimp, such as black tiger shrimpDevein.200 g
- Japanese flying squid, cleanedCut the mantle into rings and the tentacles into bite-size pieces.200 g
- Garlic4 cloves
- Cherry tomatoesHalved.200 g
- Dry white wine150 ml
- Extra virgin olive oil80 ml
- Flat-leaf parsleyRoughly chopped.1 bunch
- Red chili pepper1 chili
- SaltFor the pasta water and purging the clams, as needed for each.10 g
Method
Purge the clams
- 1 Spread 400g clams in a tray without overlapping and add enough 3% brine, 30g salt per 1L water, to just cover them.
- 2 Cover with aluminum foil or similar and leave in a dark place for 2 hours to purge.
- 3 After purging, rub the shells together under running water and drain.
Ready when
Remove after 2 hours.
Caution
Discard cracked clams and any that remain open and do not close.
Clean the mussels
- 1 Scrub the mussel shells with a brush.
- 2 Pull the beards downward from their base to remove.
Ready when
This is complete when all mussels have been debearded.
Cut the squid
- 1 Pull the squid mantle and tentacles apart and remove the cartilage and innards.
- 2 Cut the mantle into rings 1.5cm wide.
- 3 Cut the tentacles into 3cm lengths.
Ready when
This is complete when all the squid is cut.
Devein the shrimp
- 1 Make a 5mm-deep slit along each shrimp’s back.
- 2 Pull out and remove the vein.
Ready when
This is complete when all shrimp are deveined.
Sauté the garlic
- 1 Put 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, 2 crushed garlic cloves and the chili in a frying pan over low heat.
Ready when
After about 3 minutes, remove the garlic when lightly colored and fragrant.
Steam the shellfish
- 1 Add the mussels and clams to the pan and pour over 100ml white wine.
- 2 Cover and steam over high heat for 2–3 minutes.
Ready when
As soon as all the shells have opened, transfer them to a tray.
Caution
Discard any that do not open.
Strain the cooking juices
- 1 Strain the juices remaining in the pan through a fine tea strainer.
- 2 Reserve the clear liquid in a separate container.
Ready when
This is complete when the liquid is clear, with no sand or shell fragments.
Sauté the squid and shrimp
- 1 Return the pan to high heat, add the squid and sauté for 30 seconds.
- 2 Add the shrimp and sauté for a further 1 minute.
- 3 Add 50ml white wine and cook off the alcohol.
- 4 Remove everything and set aside.
Ready when
This is complete when the alcohol has evaporated.
Make the tomato sauce
- 1 MeanwhileBegin bringing water to the boil in a large pot, with 10g salt per 1L water.
- 2 Add the cherry tomatoes and sauté over medium-high heat for 5 minutes, crushing them as they cook.
- 3 Add the strained shellfish juices and reduce for a further 3 minutes.
- 4 Heat 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil and the remaining garlic, thinly sliced, in the pan over low heat.
Ready when
After 3 minutes, proceed when the sauce has thickened and pushing it aside with a wooden spatula briefly exposes the pan bottom.
Cook the pasta
- 1 Add the linguine to the prepared boiling salted water and cook al dente, 1 minute less than the package time.
- 2 Reserve 100ml cooking water.
Ready when
Drain when al dente, 1 minute less than the package time.
Combine the ingredients
- 1 Add 2–3 tbsp cooking water and toss over high heat for 1–2 minutes.
- 2 Return all the seafood, including shellfish, squid and shrimp, and mix lightly.
Ready when
This is complete when everything is well coated.
Finish with parsley and olive oil
- 1 Turn off the heat and scatter generously with parsley.
- 2 Drizzle 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil over all the pasta.
Ready when
The dish is complete after adding the parsley and oil.
Caution
Do not add cheese: it does not suit seafood pasta.
About this dish
At Venice’s Rialto market, once the auctions finished before dawn, fishermen would gather in bacari, the local taverns, to share the day’s scoglio, the bounty of the reefs. From spring to early summer, when shellfish are abundant, pasta combining clams, mussels, shrimp and squid in a pot brings the harbor’s vitality and the sea’s richness to the table.
The same dish appears in trattorias in Ligurian fishing ports. Its form varies by region, but the shared principle is to unite whatever the sea provides using only white wine and olive oil. Shellfish cooking juices concentrate sea aromas and savory flavor and form the foundation of the sauce.
Even today, Italians need only say “allo scoglio” when ordering it. Such is the depth of its roots in coastal food culture.
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