AUTHENTIC  ITALIAN  RECIPES

 FROM

 RISTORANTE  d'ANNAMARIA

BUCATINI AI FRUTTI DI MARE (Bucatini with seafood)

Ingredients for 4 persons:

Note:  As with all the pasta recipes, the amount of pasta and, therefore, the amounts of all the ingredients must be augmented if you intend to make this dish the entire meal as is typical in the U.S.  I have intended for it to be the first course only in a larger meal.

Bucatini                                   12 ounces

Tomatoes (cherry)                    1 pound

Octopus or Squid                     14 ounces (probably frozen)

Littleneck clams                        20 (fresh in the shell)

Onion                                      2 ounces

Extra virgin olive oil                 as needed

Garlic (fresh)                           as needed

Parsley (fresh or dry)                as needed

Basil (fresh or dry)                    as needed

Bay leaves                                 as needed

Dry white wine                         as needed

Salt                                          to taste

Black pepper                             to taste

How to do it:

The clams - Place them in a very large container with a lot of salty cold water and let them bathe for at least an hour. This will help get rid of any unwanted sand that the clam shells may have inside of them.

Note: If you just can't stand the thought of eating octopus or squid or you simply can't find any. You can substitute with any of your favorite delicasies from the sea. This is onr time that substituting ingredients will be OK.

Just make the sauce as you would for octopus. Replace the word octopus with whatever seafood you're using.

The octopus or squid - If you have purchased them frozen and they are already clean, great. But if they haven’t been cleaned properly, you’ll have to do that now.

Take a squid - Body in one hand and tentacles in the other and pull them apart.

Skin the body by peeling off the skin with your fingers.

Turn the body inside out and wash thoroughly. If they’re too small to turn inside out, start at the tip and squeeze the insides out like a tube of paste.

Cut the eyes away from the tentacles with a pair of small scissors or a sharp knife.

Remove the mouth (black and chitinous).

Cut the body sack into thin rings.

Repeat for all the squid.

Give them a final rinse in cold water.

If you’re doing octopus, it’s a bit easier.

You don’t have to skin them.

To clean them, turn the body inside out. Rinse the inside of the body well.

Remove the eyes just as you would for a squid.

Remove the mouth. (black and chitinous)

Cut the body sack into thin rings.

Repeat for all the octopuses.

Place them in a final rinse of cold water.

Finely chop the onion and put it in a hot skillet over medium high heat with 3 tablespoons of olive oil and 1 clove of garlic.

Sauté until tender then add the octopus and continue to cook occasionally adding a small amount of white wine to keep from over drying.

Note:  Don’t use more than a ¼ cup of wine.

Chop the tomatoes and add them to the skillet with the octopus.

Add salt and pepper to taste, then add the basil (1 or 2 leaves if fresh - 1 teaspoon if dry).

Stir and let cook covered over medium heat for about 40 minutes.

Stir occasionally and add a little water if its getting too dry.

In the meantime:

Drain the clams and put them in a hot frying pan over high heat that has had 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 1 clove of garlic and a bay leaf added to it.

Cover the pan and remove from the heat when the clams are open.

Once open, remove the clams from their shells and put them aside.

Filter the liquid from the clams and conserve.

Sauté the freshly cooked clams in a skillet with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and a handful of fresh chopped parsley (2 tablespoons dry).

Add their liquid and an abundant amount of black pepper.

Prepare to serve:

Cook the bucatini in a very large pot of rapidly boiling salted water.

Drain the pasta when it is cooked to your preference and add it to the frying pan with the clams and their juice as well as the octopus and its sauce.

Toss to mix and Buon appetito!