Ingredients
1 lb. monkfish
1 lb. littleneck clams
1 lb. of shrimp (fresh or frozen)
2 medium onions, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 ripe tomatoes, peeled and cubed
2 tbs of tomato paste
1 cup of wine
1/3 of a green pepper sliced into thin small pieces
dash of hot sauce
salt and pepper to taste
1 bay leaf
1 16 ounce box of macaroni
2 tbs of chopped parsley
2 parsley sprigs to garnish
olive oil
Instructions
Cut the monkfish into small pieces approximately one inch thick. Season with salt and pepper approximately 1 hour ahead of time.
Soak the clams in water and scrub to clean any particles or grit from the outside surface. Lift the clams out of the water into another bowl of clean water. Do not simply dump the clams into the second bowl as you will also just dump sand along with the clams. Do this a couple of times to ensure that the sand has been removed. Note: If the clams are still live, soak overnight in water with salt. This will encourage them to squirt the sand out.
When you are ready to make the seafood macaroni, saute the onions, garlic and bay leaf in olive oil. When onions start to become transparent, add tomato paste, wine, 1 cup of water and bring to a boil. Once boiling add the tomatoes, green pepper, dash of hot sauce, parsley and salt. Allow to simmer until tomatoes are just about cooked. Add more water and broth from second pot (see below), enough to cook the macaroni (per package) and bring to a boil once again. Add the entire box of macaroni. Allow the macaroni to cook approximately 5 minutes and then add the monkfish.
While the tomatoes are simmering per above, in a separate medium sized pot, cook the shrimp and clams in boiling water seasoned with salt. When the shrimp and clams are cooked (shells open), remove the clams and shrimp from the second pot and add to the first pot with the macaroni / monkfish. Also add some of the broth from the pot used to cook the clams and shrimp to the macaroni. Be sure to add enough broth to allow for very watery macaroni.
This dish should be served immediately while the pasta is very watery and there is still lots of broth. Do not allow to broth to dry up. If it does, simply add more water from the pot where the shrimp and clams were cooked. Use additional parsley to garnish.
Note: you may also add scallops to this dish or use mussels instead of clams. It is a matter of personal preference. — with Chris Nia Rivet and Denise Schlemmer.
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