Simple Frutti de Mare
This isn't a real frutti de mare by any stretch. For one, I skip a lot of steps that are important to making sure the quality of everything is what it should be. That said, a lot of the time I need to cook something simply, so that it doesn't take a lot of actual interaction time (even if it takes a fair bit of simmering time).
Part of the secret here is that Trader Joe's carries an impressive one pound bag of frozen mixed seafood -- shrimp, calimari, octopus and scallops -- for about six bucks. Normally I use this in stir fry with oyster sauce, but I've not done a lot of stir fry of late. And today I wanted pasta.
The other secret here is that I have a basic go-to tomato sauce that I use as the basis of at least a dozen different dishes. I change it up just a little depending upon the needs of the dish. That go-to recipe exists thanks entirely to Mark Bittman, whose "How To Cook Everything" really is a phenomenal book for not only explaining how to cook everything, but what it is about the food you're cooking that really matters. Also, this is a pantry food; I can make this entirely from ingredients that I keep around at all times, either in the freezer or in the pantry.
Finally, the exact bits I used here are because I had to do last minute rebalancing because I underestimated how much liquid is in the seafood.
Ingredients
Combine the tomatoes, tomato sauce and tomato in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add all spices except for the seafood. Reduce heat to low as soon as it gets close to simmering. Stir and simmer as long as you can, but 1/2 hour is enough. But if you can go for all day, then by all means, simmer it all day. Taste periodically to ensure the flavor balance is right. The biggest issue I have with flavor is that the garlic mellows out a lot as it simmer, so it always tastes very strong early and then much, much better later.
About the same time you have your pasta water boiling and ready to go, add the frozen seafood to the mix and kick the heat back up. Reduce again when it simmers.
Serve over the pasta of your choice, and it should go without saying: with a crusty bread. And a nice white wine is a nice option too. The white lambrusco really shines with this one.
Part of the secret here is that Trader Joe's carries an impressive one pound bag of frozen mixed seafood -- shrimp, calimari, octopus and scallops -- for about six bucks. Normally I use this in stir fry with oyster sauce, but I've not done a lot of stir fry of late. And today I wanted pasta.
The other secret here is that I have a basic go-to tomato sauce that I use as the basis of at least a dozen different dishes. I change it up just a little depending upon the needs of the dish. That go-to recipe exists thanks entirely to Mark Bittman, whose "How To Cook Everything" really is a phenomenal book for not only explaining how to cook everything, but what it is about the food you're cooking that really matters. Also, this is a pantry food; I can make this entirely from ingredients that I keep around at all times, either in the freezer or in the pantry.
Finally, the exact bits I used here are because I had to do last minute rebalancing because I underestimated how much liquid is in the seafood.
Ingredients
- 1 small can of stewed tomatoes
- 1 small can of tomato sauce
- 1 small can of tomato paste
- 1-2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp dried basil
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1/2 tsp granulated onion (really, a minced shallot woudl be much better here)
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp Tapatio hot sauce
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- 1 lb package of mixed seafood
Combine the tomatoes, tomato sauce and tomato in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add all spices except for the seafood. Reduce heat to low as soon as it gets close to simmering. Stir and simmer as long as you can, but 1/2 hour is enough. But if you can go for all day, then by all means, simmer it all day. Taste periodically to ensure the flavor balance is right. The biggest issue I have with flavor is that the garlic mellows out a lot as it simmer, so it always tastes very strong early and then much, much better later.
About the same time you have your pasta water boiling and ready to go, add the frozen seafood to the mix and kick the heat back up. Reduce again when it simmers.
Serve over the pasta of your choice, and it should go without saying: with a crusty bread. And a nice white wine is a nice option too. The white lambrusco really shines with this one.