TABELIA

AUTHENTIC RECIPE

Paccheri con Frutti di MarePaccheri with Mixed Seafood

Paccheri with Mixed Seafood
Difficulty★★★☆☆ Prep22 min Cook25 min Rest2 hr servings2

A Bay of Naples seafood pasta featuring 4 kinds of seafood: clams, mussels, shrimp and squid. The large paccheri hold the sauce inside, releasing the savour of the sea in every bite.

Recipe developed and reviewed by the Tabelia Editorial TeamUpdated
100/ 100

AUTHENTICITY SCORE

Authenticity Score

This is the standard recipe, exactly as it’s made where it comes from — the highest Authenticity Score possible. Substituting ingredients changes this score; the app shows exactly how, ingredient by ingredient.

Ingredients (2 servings)

  • Paccheri200 g
  • ClamsPurge for 2 hours in 3% salt water (30g salt per 1L water), then scrub just before cooking.400 g
  • MusselsPull out the beards and scrub the shells with a brush.400 g
  • Medium shell-on shrimpPeel and devein.200 g
  • SquidRemove the innards and quill; cut the body into 1cm rings and halve the length of the tentacles.200 g
  • Canned whole peeled tomatoes200 g
  • Dry white wine100 ml
  • GarlicThinly sliced.3 cloves
  • Dried chilli1 piece
  • Flat-leaf parsleyCoarsely chopped.10 g
  • Extra virgin olive oil45 ml
  • SaltFor the tomato sauce and pasta cooking water.a little

Method

12 hr

Purge the clams

  • 1 Spread 400g clams in a tray without overlapping and add enough 3% salt water (30g salt per 1L water) to just cover them.
  • 2 Cover with foil or similar and leave in a dark place for 2 hours to purge.

Ready when

After 2 hours, proceed if sand has settled at the bottom and the clams have extended their siphons.

25 min

Wash and prepare the shellfish

  • 1 Drain the purged clams in a colander, rub their shells together under running water and drain.
  • 2 Discard cracked shells and those that remain open without closing.
  • 3 Firmly pull the beards from the mussels with pliers or your fingers and scrub the shells with a brush.
35 min

Prepare the squid

  • 1 Remove the squid innards and quill (the transparent, plastic-like cartilage); cut the body into 1cm rings and halve the length of the tentacles.
45 min

Peel and devein the shrimp

  • 1 Peel the shrimp, make a shallow slit along the back and remove the vein.
52 min

Infuse the oil with garlic and chilli

  • 1 Thinly slice 3 garlic cloves.
  • 2 Heat 2 tablespoons EVOO over medium heat in a large frying pan at least 28cm across; add the garlic and 1 chilli.
  • 3 Sauté for 1–2 minutes until the garlic colours lightly and releases its aroma.
63 min

Steam the shellfish in white wine

  • 1 Add the clams and mussels and pour in 100ml white wine.
  • 2 Cover and steam over high heat for 2–3 minutes.
  • 3 Transfer the shellfish to a tray as they open.
  • 4 Leave the cooking juices in the pan.
  • 5 Discard shells still unopened after 2 minutes.
72 min

Sauté the shrimp and squid

  • 1 Sauté the shrimp and squid in the same pan over medium heat.
  • 2 Remove when the shrimp turn pink and the squid becomes white and opaque, about 2 minutes.
  • 3 Overcooking makes them tough, so take them off the heat as soon as their colour changes.
88 min

Reduce the tomato sauce

  • 1 Meanwhile(While sautéing the shrimp and squid) start bringing a large pot of water to the boil, using 10g salt per 1L water.
  • 2 Crush 200g whole peeled tomatoes by hand into the pan and simmer over medium heat for 8 minutes to make a sauce.
914 min

Cook the paccheri

  • 1 Put 200g paccheri into the prepared boiling salted water and cook for 2 minutes less than the package instructions.
  • 2 Reserve 150ml cooking water.
102 min

Combine the paccheri and sauce

  • 1 Return the shellfish, shrimp and squid to the sauce; add the al dente paccheri and toss over medium heat for 2 minutes.
  • 2 Add cooking water 1 tablespoon at a time to adjust the sauce until it coats the paccheri.
111 min

Finish with oil and parsley

  • 1 Drizzle the remaining 1 tablespoon EVOO over the pasta and finish with coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley.
  • 2 Serve immediately.
A view of Napoli, Borgo Marinari
Napoli, Borgo MarinariItaly Photo: Sordelli · CC BY-SA 3.0 (resized; display cropped)

About this dish

At restaurants in Santa Lucia, overlooking the Bay of Naples, shellfish bought directly from the port reach the kitchen in the morning. Frutti di mare, “fruits of the sea”, is cooking based on bringing fresh Mediterranean seafood to the plate by the shortest route.

Clams, mussels, shrimp and squid—the 4 ingredients each need a different cooking time. Clams and mussels are opened quickly in wine. Shrimp and squid toughen if sautéed too long. Paccheri draw the sauce into their enormous tubes, releasing the aroma of the sea in your mouth with each bite.

The greatest prohibition in Neapolitan seafood cooking is overcooking. The instant a shell opens or a shrimp turns pink, remove it from the heat. This is the one skill required of the cook preparing frutti di mare.

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