Sunday Dinner Series, 12-April

I love seafood, and will quite often opt for seafood pasta when at an Italian restaurant. So for this week I decided to try make a Linguine Con Frutti Di Mare at home, and was duly rewarded. All the components are easy to make, and come together at the end for some lip-smacking goodness. Yummy. When choosing a wine for the meal, memories of a spicy crab pasta at a small restaurant in Alghero, Sardinia served as inspiration.

Marina Sauce
2 cans peeled or crushed Italian plum tomatoes
6 cloves garlic, sliced
1 tsp crushed chilli flakes
1 tsp dried oregano
Salt
Olive oil (about ¼ cup)

Heat olive oil, then add garlic and cook till slightly browned. Add remaining ingredients. Bring to lively boil, add salt, them simmer for about 30 minutes.

Seafood – any kind you prefer. I opted for:
Scallops
Prawns (I left heads on for flavour and just sliced down the middle for ease in cooking)
Clams
Olive oil
2 cloves, crushed garlic

In large skillet, heat olive oil and cook garlic until lightly browned. Remove garlic. Cook scallops in olive oil about 3 minutes a side until nicely browned but still plump/juicy. Remove to plate. Season with salt. Cook prawns about 2 minutes a side until done. Remove to plate. Season with salt. Add marinara sauce and clams and cook until clams open, removing to plate as they open.

Linguine pasta – cook in boiling salted water for 11 minutes.

To finish, add pasta to skillet. Add generous dousing of olive oil and toss. Add in seafood. Plate and finish off with generous sprinkling of chopped fresh parsley.

Wine
For wine, I opted for a Sardinian red - Rocca Rubia 2004 Carignanon Del Sulcis Riserva - tasty with a slight kick to stand up to the richness of the garlicky spicy tomato marinara and seafood.

Some pics fro the meal: