Molto Mare Parpadelle

I love summer. I love seafood. Put those together, and this dish is what you get. I feel especially privileged to have grown up around some seriously amazing seafood. My childhood began on a beautiful boat in the San Francisco Bay Area. There is some truly amazing dungeness crab, snapper and abalone in that area. Now? I'm living it up in New England... I've gotta say. I love the coasts. There's always new and exciting fresh local ingredients. I made this dish to celebrate a summertime spent on the seashore. Enjoy!

Ingredients: (Oh, and p.s. ... I'm not big on measurements, it's more about the feeling)

• Yellow onion , 1 med , diced
• Minced garlic , Lots! ... no, but really, about 5 cloves. Please feel free to adjust to your taste.
• Tomatoes , 2-3 , diced
• Basil , a good handful
• Canned clams , juice and all
• Shrimp , 3/4 lb of 20-22s (a.k.a. Jumbo)
• Bay scallops, 1/2 lbs
• Mahogany clams, 2 lbs (These are what happened to be the locally available at the time.  Use whatever is fresh and appealing to you at the time.)
• Salt and Pepper , to taste (this should be in EVERYTHING!...)
• Olive oil
• Parpadelle , 1-2 lbs (this depends on how many you're feeding/how many leftovers you'd like)
• White wine , 1 c.  Make sure it's one you'd drink as the flavor tends to intensify when it's cooked down. I prefer a chardonnay. 
• Pecorino cheese, shredded 
• Pasta water , 1 c. (Always reserve a cup or so of your cooking water. You can use it to help loosen the sauce if it's too thick. The starch from the pasta will help the sauce stick, and it'll add more flavor that just using water from the tap.)

How to:

     Bring a large pot of well salted water up to a boil. Parpadelle takes about 8-10 min to cook. I use a pasta pot with a strainer insert so that I can reserve my cooking water and just remove the noodles when they are cooked. 

     In a large saucepan lightly coated in olive oil, sweat the onions. The best way to do this is using med-low heat, add a dash of salt (this will draw out some moisture) and cover. About 5-8 min. Remove lid and add garlic. Mmmmm.... this is one of the best smells in the world. Anywho, back to cooking. After the garlic has had a second, pour in your wine to deglaze the pan. Don't be afraid to really scrape up all of the yummy bits that got stuck to the bottom. 

     Add the shrimp, scallops, clams (both fresh and canned), and tomatoes, then cover and simmer for about 5 min. As soon as the clams pop open and the shrimp are pink, pull off of the heat so as not to overcook. 

     Stir in a good handful or two of pecorino. This will help pull the "sauce" together. If you see that you'll need a bit more liquid, feel free to add some of that reserved pasta water. Add the parpadelle and gently mix.

     Transfer into your favorite pasta platter... don't forget to pour all of the delicious juices over everything.

     Last, but absolutely in no way least, dig in!