italian shell fish dish?

Question

im trying to remember how to make this dish that my grandpa use to make when i was a kid. i remember it having a ton of different kinds of shellfish...muscles,clams,crab legs,lobster claws,shrimp...anyway it was in a red sause i think and served over pasta...can anyone help

this dish was only shell fish, nothing was in it that was plain fish just shelled...

Answer 1

I guess you do mean the "spaghetti allo scoglio" (reef spaghetti).
Ingredients (for 4 persons) :
1 1/4 pounds (500 g) fresh live clams
1 1/4 pounds (500 g) fresh mussels
12 ounces (300 g) shelled shrimp tails (you can also use other crustaceans, or a mixture of crustaceans)
2-3 ripe plum tomatoes
A bunch parsley
Basil
1 clove garlic
Olive Oil
A shredded hot pepper (optional)
Salt & pepper
3/4 pound (350-400 g) spaghetti

Recipe:
Scrub the shells of the clams and mussels. Shell the shrimp tails. Salt a pot of water for the spaghetti and set it to boil. In the meantime, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a broad skillet, with a crushed clove of garlic. When the garlic has browned, remove it and discard it, then add the clams and mussels. Cover and cook over a brisk flame, shaking the pan every now and then, until the shellfish have opened. Turn off the flame and let them cool slightly, then remove and discard the shells of some of them (but not all -- NOTE: do not try to open any that failed to open when heated. Discard them; they were already dead and eating them could make you quite sick.). While doing this make sure the clam broth remains in the skillet. Next, finely mince a second clove of garlic and sauté it in 3 tablespoons of oil, in a broad skillet. When it has turned light gold, slice the tomatoes directly into the pan. Shred six basil leaves into the pan too, a touch of salt, the hot pepper if you're using it, and simmer the sauce for ten minutes. In the meantime strain the clam juices through a fine cloth. Once ten minutes is up, stir in all the shellfish and a half cup of the strained clam juice, and simmer for five minutes more.

While the sauce is simmering, add the remaining clam juice to the pasta water, which should be boiling by now, and cook the spaghetti. Transfer the cooked spaghetti to a bowl, dribble a couple of tablespoons of oil over them, add a turn of freshly ground pepper, about 20 parsley leaves (either whole or shredded) and toss. Stir in the sauce and serve at once, with a crisp white wine.

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I don't know if it's the one but I would suggest you to taste also a different dish that's rather similar but served over toasted bread's slices. It's very renowned here in Italy and its name is "cacciucco alla livornese" (shell fish soup - leghorn way).

Cacciucco is made with various types of rockfish, most of which cannot be found outside of Italy. However, you can use many others sorts of fish such as red snapper, rock cod, halibut, bass, or any other firm-fleshed fish. According to tradition, this soup should contain at least 5 different sorts of fish, as many as the C's in its name.

Ingredients:
3 lbs. mixed fish (dogfish, sea-toad, scorpion fish, conger eels, gobies, stargazer etc.)
2/3 lb. octopus and squid
1 medium-size onion
1 carrot
1celery stalk
2 pts. fish broth
1 tbs. parsley, chopped
1 whole peperoncino
3 cloves garlic
3 oz. extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup dry white wine
1/2 lb. ripe tomatoes
salt
pepper
8 king prawns
6 slices bread, approx 1/2-in. thick

recipe:
Clean and wash the fish well. Cut off the heads of the big ones, but leave the small ones whole. Cut the octopus and the squid into medium-size chunks. Make a "battuto" (chopped herbs) with onion, carrots, celery, parsley, peperoncino and 2 cloves garlic. Put it in a saucepan together with the oil and sauté until the onions are golden and the vegetables begin to get tender. Add the squid and the octopus and cook over low heat, occasionally moistening with white wine. When the wine has evaporated add the tomatoes, peeled and seeded. Add salt and pepper to taste, and finish cooking the octopus and the squid. This fish will probably take about 45 mins. to get tender. The best way is to try it with the fork. Then, move to another pot and keep aside. Add 1 pt. fish broth, all the small fish, and the heads of the large fish. Cook for 30 mins, stirring every now and then, and moistening with more broth as necessary. Sift and return the resulting strained broth to the pot (if too thick, add some more fish broth).
Fillet all remaining fish and place it in the pot together with the prawns. Cook for a few minutes, moistening if necessary. And then add the octopus and the squid. Remove from fire. Use a rimmed soup plate and pour the fish broth over the slices of bread that have been toasted and rubbed with garlic. Finally, dish out the cacciucco into each plate and serve.

In any case are both delicious....(yummy) !!

Answer 2

try this one...steam first all the shellfish except for the shrimps, set aside.then saute garlic in olive oil,add some tomato sauce and tomato in halves,basil and other herbs that you like..add the shrimps and after 5mins add the steamed shellfish. salt and pepper to taste.serve over pasta and put some parmessan cheese on top and fresh basil leaves for decoration! enjoy!

Answer 3

for the mix in the shells I like using frozen spinach - thaw and pat dry with a towel 1 container of ricotta cheese 1/2 a palm full of itiallian seasoning 1 egg - it is a binder mix this together * i use clean hands and make sure it all gets mixed in Cook your shells pull them out put them on a cookie sheet to cool down a bit put a spoon full of filling in each one. I like to cook my meat and then add the tomato sauce pour half on the bottom of a baking dish. arrange the shells in the dish pour the rest of the sauce and meat over the top and top finally with mozzerlla cheese bake for about 15 mins

Answer 4

martok, you re fantastic. im italian too, live in italy, and i dont speak english like you, but i can recognize the deep truth of your "spaghetti allo scoglio". Just a little too long the "ricetta"...? o no