Black-and-White Pici Pasta with Squid and Shellfish

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F&W Best New Chef Eli Kulp prepares this dramatic seafood pasta dish with freshly made, toothsome black-and-white noodles, which he tosses with a big, briny seafood sauce and finishes with spicy pickled cherry peppers. Slideshow:  F&W's Fish and Seafood Guide 

Black-and-White Pici Pasta with Squid and Shellfish
Photo: © John Kernick
Active Time:
40 mins
Total Time:
1 hrs 10 mins
Yield:
4

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

  • 2 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced

  • 1 1/4 cups finely chopped flat-leaf parsley

  • 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper

  • Kosher salt

  • 1/3 cup dry white wine

  • 1/2 pound cleaned small squid—tentacles halved, bodies cut into 1/4-inch rings

  • 1 pound fresh pici pasta, preferably black-and-white

  • 20 littleneck clams, scrubbed

  • 20 mussels, scrubbed

  • 1/2 pound bay scallops

  • 4 small pickled hot cherry peppers, seeded and thinly sliced

  • 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Directions

  1. In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil. Add the garlic and cook over moderately low heat, stirring, until it just starts to brown, 2 minutes. Add 1 cup of the parsley, the crushed red pepper and a generous pinch of salt and cook until fragrant. Add the wine and bring to a boil. Stir in the squid, cover and braise over low heat, stirring, until tender, 30 minutes.

  2. In a large saucepan of salted boiling water, cook the pasta until al dente, 5 minutes; drain.

  3. While the pasta cooks, add the clams, mussels and scallops to the squid. Cover and cook over high heat until the clams and mussels just start to open, 3 minutes. Uncover and cook until the clams and mussels open fully and the broth is slightly reduced, 4 minutes. Add the pasta, pickled peppers, lemon juice and the remaining 1/4 cup of parsley and cook over moderate heat, tossing, until the pasta is hot and coated in a light sauce, 3 minutes. Season lightly with salt. Transfer the pasta to shallow bowls and serve right away.

Suggested Pairing

Crisp, minerally Sicilian white.

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