The PACCHERI WITH SEAFOOD are a delicious first course of the Italian tradition, prepared on many occasions, especially for holidays. With its richness and flavor, it is also very suitable for the Christmas Eve dinner in many parts of the country, when people often eat lean meals, meaning fish and vegetables.
The dish is distinguished by the variety of shellfish that make up the delightful sauce that dresses the pasta: mussels, clams and fasolari complement each other wonderfully and give great depth of flavor. I suggest adding a few sweet cherry tomatoes, peeled to make them gentler on the palate, but not too many so as not to take away the sea’s absolute dominance in the dish. Finish with parsley, indispensable and, of course, with a good top-quality pasta, cooked al dente and perhaps lightly tossed in the pan. For the occasion I find paccheri perfect, but I know we Italians have many different preferences… In any case, enjoy this simple but extraordinary goodness.
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Medium
- Rest time: 2 Hours
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: 4 people
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients
- 13 oz paccheri (ridged)
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes
- 1.8 lb mussels
- 1.1 lb fasolari clams
- 2.2 lb clams
- 1 clove garlic
- 1/2 cup white wine
- to taste extra virgin olive oil
- to taste salt
- to taste black pepper
- 1 bunch parsley
Steps
The preparation of PACCHERI WITH SEAFOOD is very simple but requires a bit of time for perfect results.
Place the clams and fasolari in cold salted water and let them purge for 2 hours.
Meanwhile, rinse the mussels under running water, remove the beard (the byssus) that comes out of the shell and brush or scrape the surface with a scouring pad to remove any impurities and filaments.In a saucepan add a drizzle of oil and gently brown the garlic over low heat. Then add the shellfish and the wine, cover with a lid and let them open over high heat. Once they have all opened (discard any that remain closed), remove the shellfish from the pan and strain the liquid.
Shell them, leaving a few in their shells for garnish. Return the strained liquid to the saucepan together with the shelled shellfish.Make a cross incision on the back of the cherry tomatoes. Then blanch them in salted water for 20 seconds. Drain them, remove the skin, cut them in half and also remove the seeds.
Chop them and add them to the saucepan.
Meanwhile, bring plenty of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta, leaving it al dente.
Drain it into the saucepan with the sauce along with two or three ladles of its cooking water. Add the chopped parsley, a sprinkle of pepper and finish cooking.
TIPS
You can also prepare this dish completely without tomatoes, i.e., in white style.
You can also add some untreated lemon zest cut into strips at the end of cooking to give it freshness.
You can also add some untreated lemon zest cut into strips at the end of cooking to give it freshness.
