Restaurant-style seafood pastas you can rustle up at home

Mitchelle D'Souza, Sub-editor/Reporter

Premier culinary gem Marea, renowned for its authentic Italian cuisine and exquisite seafood platters, have lifted the cloche off their signature pasta recipes.

Located in Dubai’s DIFC quarter, the New York-based Michelin star restaurant features dishes straight from the Italian homeland.

Carefully put together by celebrated chef Michael White, the sought-after recipes unveiled by the fine-dining spot showcase the best of the sea and beyond.

The scrumptious delights brimming with fresh ingredients and sublime flavours include silky spaghetti swirled with clams, calamari, baby leeks, and Calabrian chillies, transporting you straight to the Mediterranean coast.

Another dynamite of a dish is the robust gnocchetti pasta. Prepared with Sicilian red prawns, tomatoes, and rosemary, it comes speckled with chilli, lending it a dash of heat.

So, without much ado, gather your family and friends as you recreate these culinary classics from Italy in your kitchen, and feel the seafood love. Buon appetito!

Spaghetti vongole with clams and calamari

Ingredients:

450g spaghetti pasta

3 cloves          

Sliced garlic in olive oil

Sprinkle of chilli flakes

Kosher salt to taste

50g baby leeks, thinly sliced

36Ea Manila clams, washed

460ml fumet

100g calamari, cleaned and diced

10g parsley, chiffonade

Extra virgin olive oil

Lemon juice

Method:

1. Heat a sauté pan over high heat. Add the sliced garlic in oil, chilli flakes, kosher salt, and leeks. Sauté until the garlic is fragrant and the leeks start to soften slightly.
2. Add the clams to the pan, then the fumet and cover with a lid to steam-open the clams.
3. Add the pasta to boiling, salted water and cook until the desired doneness is reached.
4. Add the cooked pasta to the clams, follow with the calamari and stir to combine.
5. Cook the pasta in the sauce to thicken slightly and cook the calamari through. Add some extra virgin olive oil to the pan while tossing to help add body.
6. Finish with parsley and lemon juice, adjust seasoning to taste.

Gnocchetti pasta with red prawns

Ingredients:

450g gnocchetti pasta

2 cloves of garlic, sliced in olive oil

1 pinch chilli flakes

Kosher salt to taste

1Ea rosemary sprig

240ml crustacean stock

240ml pomodoro

200g butter

20Ea ruby shrimp, cleaned

100g tomato, diced small

10g parsley, chopped

10g chives, minced

Method:

1. Start with the sauce: Heat a sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the sliced garlic in olive oil, chilli flakes, kosher salt, and rosemary sprig (crush it with your palm against the cutting board first to release the oils).
2. When the garlic just starts to toast, add the crustacean stock, pomodoro, and butter to the pan and simmer.
3. Add the pasta to boil with salted water and cook until the desired texture is reached.
4. Add the pasta to the sauce and cook for a minute or two until the pasta is coated and the sauce is thickened. Add the shrimp and diced tomato to the pan and toss to warm.
5. Taste the sauce for seasoning; adjust as needed. Finish the sauce with parsley and chives.
6. Place the finished gnocchetti in a bowl and serve immediately.