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Ai frutti di mare

Frutti di mare — literally 'fruits of the sea' — covers a mixed shellfish preparation typically built around clams, mussels, prawns, and sometimes squid. The pasta is most often linguine; tagliatelle is the alternative on the northern Adriatic, particularly the Romagna coast where fresh egg pasta is a local habit.

What 'frutti di mare' means

The Italian phrase frutti di mare covers, in restaurant and home use, a generous mixed shellfish selection rather than any specific combination. A standard medley includes:

• Clams (vongole). Small wedge clams, in Italy typically vongole veraci (Ruditapes decussatus, the carpet shell) or the cheaper but excellent vongole lupino. They open in the pan and contribute the deepest brine to the dish.
• Mussels (cozze). The black-shelled mussel (Mytilus galloprovincialis) from Mediterranean or Adriatic farms. They open more slowly than clams and have a meatier texture and a sweeter liquor.
• Prawns (gamberi). Small to medium pink prawns, often Italian gambero rosso in better restaurants. They cook fastest and are added last.
• Squid (calamari). Often included; cleaned and cut into rings. Slightly longer cooking than prawns but still brief.

Some versions include scallops (cappesante), octopus (already pre-cooked), or razor clams. The point is variety; the principle is freshness and brief cooking.

Why this is more often linguine

The canonical pasta for shellfish sauces in Italy is linguine: a dried durum-wheat strand from Liguria, smooth, narrow, slick. The combination of dried pasta and seafood liquor is one of the great pairings of Italian cooking and works because the dried pasta absorbs the briny cooking water of the shellfish while remaining toothsome under the bite. Spaghetti is the second choice. Tagliatelle ai frutti di mare is the exception, found in the regional cuisines of the northern Adriatic coast — particularly Romagna (the seaside provinces of Ravenna, Rimini, Forlì-Cesena, and Ferrara) — where the fresh egg pasta tradition extends to the coast and the local fish is paired with the local pasta.

Compared to linguine, the fresh tagliatella is more absorbent. It picks up the shellfish liquor in a different way and produces a sauce with the seafood juice slightly more integrated into the pasta itself; the dish is richer, less crisp, slightly less Mediterranean in profile. Both are valid; in a Romagna seafood trattoria, the tagliatelle version is the local preference.

The method

For four servings of fresh tagliatelle (400 g):

1. Purge the shellfish. Soak 600 g of clams and 600 g of mussels in cold salted water (35 g per litre) for 30 minutes to disgorge sand. Scrub the mussels clean and remove beards. Discard any shells that are broken or that do not close when tapped sharply.
2. Prepare the rest. 200 g of peeled raw prawns. 200 g of cleaned squid, cut into 5 mm rings. 3 garlic cloves, peeled and slightly crushed (left whole for ease of removal). 1 small dried chilli, optional, broken open. Half a glass of dry white wine. A handful of flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped. Olive oil. Salt.
3. Open the bivalves. In a wide pan with a tight lid, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil with one of the garlic cloves. When the garlic is fragrant, add the clams and mussels and the white wine. Cover. Cook 4 to 5 minutes, shaking the pan, until the shells open. Remove from heat. Discard the garlic and any unopened shells. Lift the open shells out into a bowl; strain the cooking liquor through muslin or a fine sieve into another bowl. Optionally remove some bivalves from their shells, leaving a few in shell for presentation.
4. Cook the squid and prawns. Wipe out the pan. Heat 2 tablespoons more olive oil with the remaining garlic and the chilli. When fragrant, add the squid rings and stir-fry 90 seconds. Add the prawns and stir-fry another 90 seconds, until just opaque.
5. Reunite. Add the strained bivalve liquor and most of the open shellfish (reserving a few in shell for the top). Bring to a simmer. Season with salt to taste — the liquor is already briny.
6. Finish with the pasta. Cook the tagliatelle in salted boiling water for 2 to 3 minutes. Drain (reserving a ladle of pasta water). Add the pasta to the seafood pan over moderate heat. Toss for 30 to 45 seconds, adding pasta water if needed. Add the parsley. Plate with the reserved in-shell shellfish on top.

Variants

• In bianco — the standard, as described above. White wine, no tomato.
• In rosso — with a small spoonful of tomato concentrate stirred in with the squid, plus 100 g of cherry tomatoes added with the bivalve liquor. The sauce is rust-coloured and slightly sweeter. Common in the southern Adriatic.
• Adriatic style with brodo di pesce — the sauce is loosened with fish broth instead of pasta water. More common in restaurants than at home.

Season and sourcing

Italian shellfish is sold year-round, but quality varies. Clams are at their best in the cooler months (October through March). Mussels are farmed and available year-round. Prawns: domestic Italian gamberi are seasonal; imported prawns are available always — ask the fishmonger about the origin. The general rule, for shellfish on a fresh-pasta dish that depends on their flavour, is that fresher is always markedly better. If the bivalves do not smell of clean seawater, they should not be cooked.