An Italian Favorite: Spaghetti ai Frutti di Mare

Frutti di Mare is a popular multi-seafood dish along the cost of Italy. Frutti di Mare literally means “Fruit of the Sea” and can include all types of seafood, including mussels, clams, prawns and other shellfish.

A friend of mine Mike loves to experiment in the kitchen and grew up in a family of Italian restaurateurs including Vaccaro’s Trattoria. He recently shared the secret that this dish is incredibly easy to make, and the recipe below is an adaptation of his Frutti di Mare recipe. It turned out so well on our first try, and is now something I look forward to making.

I hope this inspires you to get out of your comfort zone with cuisine and try some things you have never done before.

The fish that I used for this dish includes: clams, live mussels, shrimp, squid (calamari), and fresh scallops. When you are buying these items here are some tips to make sure you are getting the best:

1. Clams & Mussels: These shellfish are sold alive, so make sure the clams and mussels are closed shut when you buy them. When you get them home soak them with water in the sink. You will notice air bubbles at the top, this means they are breathing, which is a good thing! You can also tell a dead shellfish after you’ve cooked them all. Dead ones do not open after being cooked. Throw away any closed clams or mussels once you spot them.

2. Scallops: Scallops can be wet or dry. The wet scallops are the sandy ones that are hard to brown and also have a gritty taste that I don’t like. Always purchase a dry scallop, and look for the label “dry packed.”

3. Shrimp: If you are close to an area that offers fresh shrimp buy whatever is local. Being near the Gulf of Mexico, for this recipe I used Jumbo Gulf Shrimp.

4. Squid (Calamari): Calamari is the Italian (also Greek) word for squid. Calamari bodies sold separately from the tentacles are referred to as “steaks.” The cleaned body should be a creamy white color and may appear glossy. Its aroma should be clean without a noticeable fish smell.

You will also need fish stock and clam juice. I easily found these both at my local grocery store. For the fish stock I purchased the Fumet de Poisson Gold (packaged in a pouch) that you add water to, and a bottle of clam juice by Bar Harbor. In truth, if you can only find one of the two that’s ok – you can use just fish stock or just claim juice, but the combo is better. I used both and split the difference between them, which imparts a really nice flavor to the final dish.

Now all the other ingredients are super basic and easy so no worries there. What you need to focus on here is the technique and timing to pull this together. So here is how you do it:

Spaghetti ai Frutti di Mare

Serves 4 people