On Saturday, my husband, in an unexpected and I would say quite surprising moment, almost like a pregnant woman with cravings, expressed a strong desire to enjoy a good seafood dish! You might find this rather normal, if it weren’t for the fact that my husband certainly can’t be counted among those who make such requests! Hence, my surprised but not unhappy reaction, because, besides being pleased that he finally expressed a culinary desire, he certainly didn’t ask for the moon, so fulfilling his wish seemed like the least I could do! I knew that calamarata is a type of pasta he loves, so I chose it among many options, to finally propose this simple, fragrant, and nutritionally complete dish! Thanks to the addition of legumes, I ensured the right intake of minerals, not to mention that chickpeas go well with seafood! A bronze drawing, a few cherry tomatoes here and there, a generous sprinkle of parsley, and it’s done! The sauce that came out was truly exceptional so much so that despite the generous portion of pasta, we couldn’t resist the temptation to mop up the sauce with bread! And for a moment this weekend felt like summer again! Sometimes so little is needed to change the sense of a day, don’t you think?

If you like first courses with fish or shellfish, here are some other ideas to draw inspiration from:

Difficulty: Medium
Cost: Expensive
Preparation time: 30 Minutes
Portions: 4
Cooking methods: Stovetop
Cuisine: Italian

Ingredients:

10 oz calamarata (type of pasta)
2 squid
1.1 lbs clams
14 oz mussels
6 oz chickpeas (canned)
4 fl oz white wine
7 oz cherry tomatoes
3 cloves garlic
2 bunches parsley
to taste extra virgin olive oil
to taste red pepper flakes

Tools:

2 Bowls
1 Cutting board
1 Knife
1 Frying pan
1 Lid
1 Ladle
1 Strainer
1 Pot

Preparation:

First, rinse the mussels well under running water. Remove the beard by pulling it with a sharp movement using a knife, then scrape off any white crusts that form on the shell and scratch the surface (fig. 1).
Wash the clams under running water and clean them thoroughly with a kitchen brush to remove any sand contained in the shell. Meanwhile, in a non-stick frying pan, brown a clove of garlic with extra virgin olive oil and add the mussels. Also add the cherry tomatoes cut in half, cover with a lid, and cook for a few minutes (about 7′-8′) or until the shellfish open (fig. 2).
Turn off the heat and sprinkle with finely chopped parsley, then set aside (fig. 3).
In the same pan where you cooked the mussels, brown another clove of garlic along with the clams; deglaze with 2 fl oz of white wine, then cover with a lid and cook for about 6′ (fig. 4).
Clean the squid by gently detaching the head and tentacles from the rest of the body, cut into small pieces. Then remove the innards from the sac and the cartilage. Rinse and cut them into thin rings (fig. 5).
Cook them in the same pan, browning the last clove of garlic, then deglaze with the remaining wine, cover with a lid and cook for about 15′. A few minutes before turning off the heat, add the already cooked and drained chickpeas (fig. 6).
Strain the cooking liquids with a strainer, then remove most of the mussel shells and some of the clam shells, keeping a few of both whole to decorate the dish. Mix everything in the pan and season with red pepper flakes (fig. 7).
Boil plenty of salted water and when it boils, add the pasta. Cook it al dente. Drain and add it to the chickpea and seafood sauce. Let it flavor by stirring continuously so that the sauce binds to the pasta (fig. 8).
Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, another grind of fresh parsley, and serve. And voilà…your calamarata with chickpeas and seafood is ready to be enjoyed!
Bon Appetit from the Kitchen of Fefè!