Marinara ai Frutti di Mare (aka Seafood Marinara)

I may say every pasta dish is my favorite...but this one is actually my favorite! It may sound fancy, but this dish is SO easy to put together and is one sexy dish. This is one of those recipes that I try to make at least once a month, whether I'm making it just for me or for a group of my friends. No joke, when I make it just for me I probably make around the same amount as I would for my friends just so I can have leftovers over the next few days.

I used a frozen seafood medley that includes calamari, scallops, squid, shrimp, and mussels. Feel free to pick and choose which seafood you use, but this gives you a nice variety if you're open to it.

Whenever I make a big bowl of pasta, I love to pair it with a roasted veggie and garlic bread. For the broccolini, I tossed it in ghee, lemon pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and flaky salt. The garlic bread is just herby-garlic butter with shaved parmesan on top. I roasted both at 400 for 20-25 mins or until golden brown.

The sauce itself is a pretty basic concept. We start by making a marinara sauce then pivot slightly with the seafood/parsley situation. So if you just want to make a marinara then feel free to skip the seafood (but I don't suggest it :) )

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Get Started!

Prep Time: 10 Mins

Cook Time: 40 mins

Servings: 8 Servings

Ingredients

• 1 box spaghetti (Seggiano brand is my bae)

• 28 oz can crushed tomatoes (San Marzano)

• 2 tbsp crushed tomato paste

• 1/2 white onion

• 1 shallot

• 4 garlic cloves

• 1/2 cup fresh parsley

• 1 lemon

• 1 package frozen seafood medley

• 1 tsp garlic powder, onion powder, fennel seed, oregano, crushed red pepper

• Salt & pepper to taste

• 1/2 cup red wine

• Olive oil

Directions

1. Start by letting your seafood thaw, and then set aside. I like to squeeze the juice of 1 lemon over it and mix it into the seafood. Citrus can actually "cook" your seafood so don't let this sit for too long.. You'll be adding this into your sauce at the very end.

2. Start boiling water and follow instructions for al dente pasta. Save 1-2 cups of pasta water for your sauce.

3. Finely chop onion and shallot, and add to a large pan on medium heat and cook until translucent (3-5 minutes). Once that is cooked down, add finely chopped garlic. Keep an eye on the heat so that the garlic doesn't burn, it should cook pretty quickly.

4. After your aromatics have cooked for 5-7 mins, you are going to do a red wine reduction. Add the wine and turn down to medium low heat. It may look a little scary at first but it will reduce down into a thick saucy coating on your onions/garlic, they'll be purple in color. This may take about 20 mins, if you cook it too high too fast it can turn out bitter.

5. Once your red wine has been reduced, add the tomato paste and let that caramelize slightly before adding in the crushed red tomatoes. Mix in well.

6. Add spices, herbs, and salt & pepper.

7. Start by adding about 1 cup of pasta water, then add more if necessary.

8. Add in fresh parsley and seafood and mix through, the seafood will cook quickly 2-3 mins once in the sauce.

9. Serve this on top of a bowl of pasta, garnish with parsley and shaved parmesan. Enjoy!