I love seafood. I love pasta. Together, they make an awesome duo.
Bon Appetit Magazine’s recipe blew my mind. I had no idea that a few simple bells and whistles like white wine, butter, parsley, and lemon juice can deepen the flavors and elevate the complexity of a dish so much! I can’t help but close my eyes after I slurp up the pasta, smile from ear to ear, and proudly think “Wow, am I eating at a restaurant right now?”
This dish would be perfect for a date night dinner at home. You can show off your cooking prowess and impress your special someone with a meal that’s a little bit fancy (seafood makes anything fancy IMO). Not to mention, it’s super easy to pull together since most of the ingredients are already in your pantry. You’ll have a homemade legit quality meal on the table in no time.
I found one pound bags of mixed seafood in the frozen aisle at Trader Joe’s, but in all likelihood, you can find it at Costco or in the frozen section of your local Asian market. Depending on what is in your seafood medley, pull the shellfish out of the simmering sauce in the order that they finish cooking. Overcooked seafood is no fun to eat.
If you like this Seafood Pasta recipe, try my
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Seafood Pasta
- Yield: 2 1x
- Category: Main
Description
A perfect date night dinner at home with a complexity of flavors made with minimal effort.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 medium white or yellow onion, finely chopped
- 4 cloves of garlic, sliced
- ¾ teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes
- 1/2 jar (16 oz.) of red pasta sauce
- 1/2 cup of dry white wine or broth
- Kosher salt
- 1/2 pound of spaghetti
- 1 pound of frozen mixed seafood, defrosted, rinsed, dried well
- 1 tablespoon of unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup of parsley, finely chopped, more for serving
- Juice from 1/2 a lemon
- Black pepper
Instructions
- Start on the sauce. Add oil to a large heavy pan over medium heat. Once it’s warmed up, add the onion and stir occasionally for 8 to 10 minutes until the onion is golden and softened. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes. Season with a smidge of salt and stir continuously for about 2 minutes until the garlic is softened. Pour in the pasta sauce and bring the mixture to a simmer. Add the white wine and stir occasionally for about 4 minutes until the smell of alcohol has disappeared.
- Get the pasta ready. Cook the spaghetti in a large pot of boiling salted water until very al dente, about 3 minutes less than the package recommendations. Stir occasionally to keep the pasta separated. Drain the spaghetti and reserve 1/3 cup of pasta cooking liquid.
- Now back to the sauce. Add the seafood medley and the reserved pasta cooking liquid to the sauce. Mix well and bring the sauce back to a simmer. Cover the pan and allow the seafood to cook. About one minute in, start picking out the seafood that cook the fastest (e.g., small shrimp and scallops) and then all other remaining seafood after into a large bowl, discarding any mussels (if any) that have not opened.
- Put it all together. It’s time for the spaghetti and butter to join the sauce. Combine well so the butter melts completely and for the sauce to coat and cook the pasta to al dente. Remove the pan from the heat, add the seafood, parsley, and lemon juice into the pan, and carefully toss to combine. Add black pepper, if desired. Dish up and enjoy immediately!
