AAF’s Recipe of the Day

As promised, here’s my take on Spaghetti Marinara. You can make this as rich as you like, depending on what you can find at the fish markets.

First a quick word on the kind of dry pasta you should use for this dish (and any other pasta dish for that matter): the higher the protein in the pasta the better the pasta is. The pasta quality is just as important as the sauce you put on it. The better the quality of wheat the better the pasta, the better the final recipe, so remember that fact as well: hard grain pasta is the best, the packet should read: Grano Dura. If you find a Pasta with 13 percent protein then you have a very good product, 12 percent is good, 11 percent or under is classed as cheaper and inferior pasta and will go too soft when cooking. Good Pasta must remain firm after cooking! This is for 4 to 6 persons.

2 tbsp olive oil, 2 small red onions, diced, 2 pounds of fresh tomatoes (try not using canned tomatoes for this dish), peeled and diced, a small handful of fresh thyme (dried ok), 2 tbsp tomato puree, a hint of brown sugar, salt & cracked pepper to taste, half a pint of dry white wine, 4 garlic cloves, finely minced, a small bunch of parsley, chopped up, and the sea-food: buy the freshest firm flesh fillet you can find (monkfish, halibut, red snapper, mahimahi, cod – though cod is being depleted, so best to avoid). You’ll need roughly half a kilo (1 pound approx.) of fish, cut into 1 inch chunks, 2 pounds of mixed shellfish (mussels, scallops, calamari (squid), 300 gr of cooked & shelled shrimps and if you feel a little rich, get a small cooked lobster which you cut into medallions, roughly the same size as the fish fillets. Oh, and don’t forget the pasta! A 500 gr packet should do the trick.

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil, add the onions, cook them a little, then the garlic, tomatoes and thyme over low heat. Add the tomato puree and the sugar, stir in the wine, and cook briskly for 15 minutes or so. Reduce the heat and add the fish chunks, the parsley, stir carefully, then add the mussels and the scallops, stir carefully still, the mussels should be opened up, add the scallops and the squid, then the lobster or shrimps or both, and season to your liking.

As the Marinara cooks, bring lots of salted water to the boil (I always add a little olive oil to the water, it will make the pasta non-sticky) and cook according to the instructions on the packet. Drain and toss the seafood sauce in, and serve immediately!

Tags: Food, Recipe, Spaghetti Marinara