What happens when you find yourself waking up, night after night, still dreaming of the chewy, homemade pasta and briny, freshly-caught seafood you had on your dream vacation to the Amalfi Coast?
You re-create! :D
Foodbuzz’s Project Food Blog Challenge #2 was to whip up another culture’s classic dish that would take you outside your culinary comfort zone to make. Always willing to take on a challenge, I scoured the city yesterday afternoon, hunting for the freshest seafood I could get my paws on.
My mission? To recreate my favorite dish from our entire Italian vacation. The dish that’s on every restaurant and household menu in the tiny, Mediterranean coastal town of Praiano, Italy, where we stayed. The dish that makes my mouth water and my taste buds sing – Pasta allo Scoglio. Seafood pasta, baby!
FYI, I live in the Midwest where we grow corn so sweet they turn it into ice cream and pork’s so abundant they practically give it away. What we DON’T have, you see, is readily available, super-fresh seafood. Ie, my experience cooking with exotic seafood is zip. Zilch. Nada!
Wanting to try and make the dish as authentic as possible, and take myself even further outside my comfort zone, I did what every Italian woman would do – I made my own pasta. You guys – it is SO much easier than I ever thought. Seriously! Check it out…
Homemade Pasta
Yield: 6 servings of 1/4 inch wide noodles.
Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
3 eggs
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
pinch of salt
Directions:
1. Place flour into a large bowl and make a well in the center.
2. Add eggs, extra virgin olive oil and salt into the well.
3. Stir with a wooden spoon, gradually adding more and more flour, until the mixture is too thick to stir anymore.
4. With clean hands, knead the dough until it comes together into a rough ball, then turn it out onto a flat, floured surface.
5. Continue to knead the dough for 8-10 minutes, or until it turns into a smooth, elastic ball. Add more flour to the board when necessary, to prevent sticking.
Remember to have fun! ;)
6. Cut the dough into thirds, then lightly flour the cutting board and a rolling pin.
7. Roll the dough out, adding more flour when necessary, until it’s 1/8 inch thick.
8. Smooth a tiny bit of flour over each side of the dough and roll up into a cigar shape.
9. With a sharp knife, cut dough into desired noodle thickness.
10. Roll noodles out and lay flat. Cook immediately in salted boiling water until the noodles rise to the top, ~1-2 minutes, or store in a tupperware container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
You can freeze any leftover noodles, too!
Ok. Pasta? Check! Now for the seafood portion of the program. (Insert “eek!” here…)
I was lucky enough to find the most of the same delicacies that were in my Pasta allo Scoglio in Italy, here in town. We’ve got sea scallops,
little neck clams,
squid tubes (aka calamari,)
fresh shrimp,
and mussels!
Can I just tell you incredibly odd it is to hold something in your hand knowing that it’s alive, and you’re about to cook it?! Ie, cleaning the mussels and clams was seriously. freaky!
I pushed all thoughts aside, laid out my seafood, heated up the stove, and got to work…
Pasta allo Scoglio
Based on a recipe from Bacco Ristorante. Yield: 1 serving.
Ingredients:
1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 sea scallops
2 large, peeled & deveined shrimp
4 little neck clams, scrubbed
4 mussels, scrubbed
1 squid tube, cut into rings
1/3 cup white wine
1/3 cup marinara sauce
Directions:
1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add minced garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until lightly browned. About 30 seconds.
2. Turn the heat up to medium-high and add scallops to the pan. Sear on one side until golden brown. Flip and add the rest of the seafood.
3. Cook seafood for 30 seconds, then add white wine and marinara sauce. Continue to cook for another 2-3 minutes, until the clams & mussels have opened. NOTE: Do not try to pry open and eat the clams or mussels that do not open. They are inedible.
4. Push the seafood to one side of the pan and add a serving of homemade pasta, cooked until it’s a little underdone, to the empty side of the pan. Allow the pasta to continue cooking in the sauce until it’s cooked through.
5. Serve immediately, topped with chopped parsley.
Omg, it freaking worked!!
The scallops tasted ocean-fresh, the squid was tender, the pasta actually tasted like real pasta, and the mussels opened!! Ok…the clams didn’t. You can’t win ’em all, I guess. ;)
The sauce was so complimentary too. Really light and definitely not overpowering the taste of the fresh seafood.
The wonderful thing about Italian cooking is that, while it may seem intimidating, the ingredients are fresh and uncomplicated. The whole thing, not counting making the pasta, took me less than 10 minutes to create. Score!
Comfort zone = re-zoned. Mission = accomplished! :mrgreen:
Have a great night you guys!
~~~~~
What foods are you intimidated to cook with?
lindsay 09.27.2010
I’ve always been a little iffy about homemade pasta – everything else I am all over. But after seeing this, I think I might just take the plunge! Next Monday, it’s you and me, pasta.
Teresa 09.27.2010
Wow – I’m impressed – that’s awesome!
liz 09.27.2010
I have to say that dish looks incredible! When I saw what you were gonna be making it sounded intimidating, but you made it seem so simple. I definitely want to try this! Where did you buy the seafood?
Christy 09.27.2010
Where did you find your seafood in DM? I generally purchase from Waterfront, but didn’t know if anywhere else has good fresh seafood…looks Delish!
Great Date Night Activity + Cast Your Vote | Iowa Girl Eats 09.27.2010
[…] Comments « How to Make Homemade Pasta & Cook Fresh Seafood […]
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[…] Iowa Girl Eats’ Fresh Pasta and Seafood […]
Angie 09.27.2010
Absolutely beautiful dish! And, your photos from your Italian vacation are amazing…I had the chance to visit Italy in 2003, but I am literally dreaming at night about going back. Thanks for sharing some amazing memories!
Congrats on the Readers Choice win in PFB Round 1! Best of luck in Round 2. This is a great post!
Jenni 09.27.2010
Gorgeous dish! And clams have a reputation of not playing well with others. They probably didn’t open just to be difficult. Stupid clams. :)
Best of luck in Round 2–looking forward to voting!!
Michelle 09.27.2010
Looks delish! Great job!
Randi 09.27.2010
Wow, that looks amazing! Oh, now you’re making me miss Italy! :) I haven’t made fresh pasta since I was little girl and I helped my mother make homemade egg noodles. I’ve been to scared to try! But I may be up to the challenge now. By the way, where did you get the seafood? I’m on the eastern edge of Iowa. :)
Brynne 09.26.2010
You made your own pasta. You’re my hero.
Daisy 09.26.2010
incredible job!
Faith @ lovelyascharged 09.26.2010
“OMG, It worked!” – haha! What an impressive looking dish! Girl, I’m in awe! I want so badly to make my own pasta…it’ll happen sooner or later!
Leesh 09.26.2010
The noodles you made look amazing. I am more amazed at the noodles than the seafood (and I love seafood). Good job on the re-creation.
Maranda 09.26.2010
Awesome!!! Great job lady! The dish looks delicious! And now I finally know how to make homemade pasta!!!
colleen 09.26.2010
WOW. Homemade pasta – s’thing I haven’t tried but would love to. Same for the seafood minus the shrimp. I don’t even have an excuse – lived 4.5 years on the coast of NC.
Clare 09.26.2010
Looks AMAZING! I love that dish but would never have the courage to make it! But good seafood is hard to come by for us midwestern girls:)
Charity 09.26.2010
I have always wanted to make homemade pasta but have been too scared to try. I think I might have to give it a go.
My husband and I love sushi. I have actually tried making it before and have been mildly successful.
Emily 09.26.2010
Bravo!! The dish looks amazing! And congrats on successfully making homemade pasta. I did it at home last month for the first time (with a Kitchen Aid extension). It took a little while but it was INCREDIBLE. Definitely worth the effort! good luck on this next round :)
jad18 09.26.2010
Wow, this is beautiful and looks yummy. I am intimidated by making seafood dishes (other than baked salmon).