Seafood Marinara

Seafood Marinara

I love pasta and I love seafood, combime them together you get Seafood Marinara one of my favorite dishes.  Seafood Marinara or Spaghetti alla Marinara originated in Italy but the sauce it self which is called marinara or “salsa al pomodoro” was invented by the cooks during the 1500′s aboard Neapolitan ships. This tomato based sauce was easy to make and have a long time span (wont spoil easily) due to the high acidity tomatoes which a must for long sea voyages as refrigeration was not yet invented.

When I first cooked this dish, I felt like theres something I missing as am looking for that flavour that I had tasted in best seafood marinara I had which was in Wild Rice Restaurant in Boulevard Hotel in Mid Valley Megamall, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.  I tried a lot of variations but I cant get the flavour until I used a lot of tomatoes and if I mean a lot, it means tomatoes in kilograms.

So for those pasta lovers at the same time seafood lovers, I bet this dish wont let you down, go and and try this recipe out.

Ingredients

1kg vine  tomatoes, chopped

280g tomato paste

1/3 cup of olive oil

6 cloves garlic, minced

1 red medium onion, chopped

4 leaves basil, chopped

1/2 tsp of dried oregano

1/2 cup white wine

1 red capsicum, finely chopped

3 cups shellfish or seafood stock

15 pcs large New Zealand mussels

2 cups prawns, shelled and deveined

3 pcs squid, sliced

1 whole fleshy fish (like grouper or snapper), filleted and sliced into 2 inch squares

2 pcs Spanish chorizo, chopped

sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

350g Angel hair pasta or Vermicelli pasta (the thinner the pasta the better)

parmesan cheese

Method

1. Boil pasta for 4 minutes (half cook), run in cold water and drain.  Set aside.

2. In a pan, pan fry fish in 2 tbsp of olive oil for 1 minute each side, set aside.

3. In a the same pan add a dash of olive oil and saute garlic, onions, red capsicum and chorizo.  Cook until onions are translucent.

4. Add chopped tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes.

5. Add tomato paste, white wine, the remaining olive oil and seafood stock.  Bring to a boil then add the seafood mussels, simmer for 6 minutes or until mussels opened up.

7. Add squid, prawns, sea salt (according to your taste), basil, oregano, and a dash pepper.  Simmer for 2 minutes.

8. Pre heat oven at 180C.  Place pasta in a ovensafe deep dish, place fish on top and pour the sauce on top.  Bake for 20 minutes.

9. Remove from oven and top with freshly shaved parmesan cheese and freshly ground black pepper.