Spaghetti alla Clam Bake
Long live the king. Sphaghetti. Without a doubt, my absolute favorite pasta in the entire world. Sure, there are hundreds of other shapes, but spaghetti is like The Ramones of pasta. You can argue that others exist, maybe some came before them, but you can never argue that they aren’t the best. Spaghetti is a part of my DNA. It was the foundation of my family’s Sunday tradition, and the same traditions for Italian-American families all across the country. It’s clear it’s the king for a reason.
This recipe was created to celebrate the end of summer (or the beginning of fall) - one last hurrah to all the great seafood we get fresh in the area - one last culinary tribute to the Jersey shore. The inspiration is pretty simple, I wanted to create a summer clam bake in the form of a pasta. So the addition of things like potato and corn may not be traditional to pasta, but they definitely work in this monster of a dish. And since a clam bake is a model of decadence, this dish is just over the top with seafood and pasta. So buckle up, wear loose-fitting clothing, and crack a few Peronis for this one.
The Recipe
Servings: 8
Prep time: 15 mins.
Cook time: 30 mins.
Difficulty: Medium
Special Equipment:
N/A
Notes:
N/A
Ingredients & Mise en Place
• 2 lbs. spaghetti
• 50 little neck clams - scrubbed & cleaned
• 2 lbs. mussels - debearded & scrubbed
• 1 lb. shrimp - medium - shelled & deveined
• 16 jonah crab claws
• 1 lb. bay scallops
• 1 lb. yellow fin tuna - cut into 1” cubes
• 3 ears of corn - kernels removed
• 3 yellow potatoes - 1/2” dice
• 2 pints grape tomatoes - quartered
• 1 head of garlic - diced
• 1 bottle clam juice
• 1 bottle of Peroni or other light lager
• 2 cups dry white wine
• 1 bunch parsley - chopped fine
• 2 lemons - quartered
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Sea salt
• Fresh cracked pepper
• Parmigiano Reggiano (optional)
Preparation
NOTE: Before you start this one, know this is a recipe of timing and sensing. You have to be very attentive to the ingredients as they cook to time this right way. That said, I’m going to share the order in which I cooked things, but not give too many timing instructions because that could lead to under or overdone seafood. This is on you to look, smell, and taste as you go along on this one.
01.
Bring a large stock pot of heavily salted water to a boil.
02.
Place a large and deep sauté pan over medium heat with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Once warm, add garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes or until soft. Next, add in the yellow potatoes and a cup of water. Add salt and pepper to taste and then cover to steam for roughly 5 minutes. Next, add in the tomato and white wine, and the clams. Place a lid over the pan and steam for about 5 minutes.
03.
Now, because there is so much seafood, you will need a second stock pot. In this one, pour the bottle of beer and place it over medium-high heat. Once warm, drop in the mussels and crab claws and put a tight lid on it. Once mussels have opened and crab legs have cooked, remove from the heat.
04.
At this point, drop pasta into the boiling water. Cook the spaghetti until al dente, ~10 minutes. Strain the pasta and add olive oil if the pasta is done before the rest of the dish.
05.
As the clams begin to open up, add in the shrimp, scallops, and clam juice. Once the shrimp have turned pink and the scallops opaque, add in the tuna and corn. Once the tuna begins to become opaque and cooked, remove from the heat.
06.
Over a large serving platter, place all of your pasta as a base and coat with good extra virgin olive oil. Pour clam mixture and the broth from it over all of the pasta. Next, arrange mussels and crabs over the spaghetti (do not use too much of the beer jus in doing this.) Cover with a bunch of fresh chopped parsley and slices of lemons around the rim of the plate. Serve with cheese on the side for those who want it.
This is a family-style dish. Sit down and enjoy it over some time.
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