Pasta & Seafood

A Dynamic Duo

If the only image that comes to mind when you hear the word “pasta" is spaghetti with tomato sauce, it's high time to jolt your imagination and expand your culinary horizons.

Easy, economical and nutritious, pasta is one of our most versatile staple foods. These adjectives also apply perfectly to seafood. So you're in for a treat when you combine the two for an endless array of sensational meals. One of seafood's greatest features is that you can buy exactly the amount you need. Want three shrimp and three scallops for each serving? Have your fishmonger count out just that many. Or slice just a few ounces from a salmon fillet. Or try a quarter pound of several kinds of seafood for an interesting mixture. With such flexibility in purchasing, there's incredible variety, no waste and no leftovers—unless you plan for some.

Pasta Comes in a myriad of shapes, from plain to playful. As a general rule, serve heavy chunkier sauces with shaped pastas that will catch bits and pieces in their folds and grooves. Other than that, it's a matter of following your fancy.

Pasta comes in myriad shapes, from plain to playful. As a general rule, serve heavy chunkier sauces with shaped pastas that will catch bits and pieces in their folds and grooves. Other than that, it's a matter of following your fancy.

Whatever shape you choose, cook it in plenty of boiling water (at least 2 quarts for every 6 ounces pasta) in a large pan—cooking pasta needs room to grow and foamy water a place to bubble up! Salt enhances pasta's flavor during cooking but is certainly optional. Add 1/2 to 1 teaspoon for each quart of water.

Boil pasta just unit tender—there should still be a nice “bite" to the pasta when cooked. Begin testing with the minimum suggested cooking time. Scoop out a couple of strands or pieces, run briefly under cold water and taste. If the pasta is nearly cooked but your sauce has fallen behind, slide the pan off the heat and let stand 5 to 10 minutes; the pasta will continue to cook slowly. Cooked pasta can be drained and held, covered, about 15 minutes more. But beware—over-cooked pasta will form into a sticky mass. Tossing the just-drained pasta with a little oil will help to keep the pieces separated, but it's not a good idea to plan on holding cooked pasta very long.

Recipes

• Orzo with Spinach, Shrimp and Scallops
• Browned Garlic Butter Linguine with Calamari Rings
• Pasta Salad Niçoise with Broiled Tuna
• Buffalo Shrimp with Pasta and Blue Cheese Sauce
• Clams and Pasta Sofrito
• Thai Coconut Milk Curry Sauce with Shrimp
• Layered Pesto Pasta

The 2-3 Rule For Pasta and Seafood

How much pasta to cook? Two ounces dry pasta cooks up to about 1 cup an average serving. Allow three ounces for hearty appetites. The same goes for seafood. Go light on seafood when a sauce contains lots of vegetables, more when it stands alone. Clams and mussels are the exception. Allow 1/3 to 1/2 pound per serving—or purchase by the number (such as 6 per serving.)

Pasta Varieties, A Quick Study

Strands, Ribbons and Tubes

Choose creamy sauces, butter sauces and light tomato sauces with small pieces of vegetable that will cling to pasta strands or flow inside tubes

Angle Hair: very fine round strands, cooks quickly; best for very light sauces (not heavy cream sauce)
Spaghetti: medium round strands, the most popular pasta; from the Italian word for “strings"
Linguine: flat spaghetti, “little tongues" in Italian
Tagliatelle: long ribbons about 1/4 inch wide
Fettuccine: long ribbons about 3/8 inch wide
Papardelle: short ribbons about 1 inch wide
Penne: 2-inch-long tubes (1/4-to 3/8. diameter) with diagonally cut ends
Rigatoni: large grooved 1 – 2-inch-long tubes (1/2 in. diameter)

Shapes

Best for heavy or chunky sauces. The twists, turns, grooves and curves in these pastas capture bits and pieces that would slide off smooth pastas and settle to the bottom of the bowl

Ozro: rice-shaped pasta, cooks quickly; coat with creamy sauce or pesto or use as filler with lots of vegetables and seafood; “barley" in Italian
Farfalle or bow ties: rectangles scrunched up in middle with zig-zag edges
Conchiglie or shells: shell-shaped, usually grooved, many sizes; Italian for “seashell"
Gnocchi: rippled pasta shaped somewhat like shells; in Italian, “dumpling". Do not confuse with authentic gnocchi which are tender, simmered dumplings often made from potatoes
Rotini: spiral and corkscrew shapes; many varieties, from short and dense to longer and looser; sometimes called “fusilli"
Rotelle: wagon shaped pasta
Radiatore: Italian for “radiator", which they resemble