Octopus And Shrimp Pasta Recipes

SEAFOOD SPAGHETTI

Steps:

• Cook octopus:
• Put octopus in pressure cooker with water, bay leaf, and 1/2 teaspoon salt and seal pressure cooker with lid, then cook at high pressure according to manufacturer's instructions 10 minutes. Put pressure cooker in sink (do not remove lid) and run cold water over lid until pressure goes down completely. Remove lid. Transfer octopus to a cutting board, reserving 1/2 cup cooking liquid. Cut off and discard head, then cut tentacles into 1-inch pieces.
• Make tomato sauce:
• Simmer tomatoes with their juice, basil, and oil in a heavy medium saucepan over medium heat, uncovered, stirring and mashing tomatoes occasionally, until thick and reduced to about 3/4 cup, 20 to 25 minutes.
• Make basil purée:
• Purée basil, oil, butter, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a blender, scraping down side as necessary, until smooth. Transfer to a small bowl.
• Cook pasta and seafood:
• Cook spaghetti in a pasta pot of boiling salted water (3 tablespoons salt for 6 quarts water) until al dente.
• Meanwhile, purée garlic and oil in cleaned blender until smooth. Heat a dry 12-inch heavy skillet (not nonstick) over high heat until hot, 2 to 3 minutes. Add oil mixture, then immediately add octopus, shrimp, and mussels and sauté, stirring occasionally, until shrimp are browned on edges and mussels begin to open, 2 to 3 minutes. Add tomato sauce and reserved octopus-cooking liquid and cook, stirring, until mussels just open wide and shrimp are just cooked through, about 2 minutes more (discard any unopened mussels). Season with salt and pepper.
• Drain pasta and return to pot. Add squid to hot seafood in skillet, stirring to combine, then add to hot pasta and toss to combine (squid will cook as it is being tossed). Serve drizzled with all of basil purée.

SAUTEED SCALLOPS & SHRIMP PASTA

Steps:

• Pat shrimp and scallops dry; sprinkle with seafood seasoning., In a small skillet, melt 1 tablespoon butter over medium heat. Cook and stir mushrooms about 3 minutes. Add peas; cook until vegetables are tender, about 3-4 minutes. Remove. Add shallots and 1 tablespoon butter; cook and stir until starting to soften, 1-2 minutes. Stir in wine; reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, until ready to serve., Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, cook pasta according to package directions; drain, reserving 1/2 cup pasta water. Return pasta to pan. Over low heat, stir in 1/4 cup parsley, garlic, pepper flakes, salt, mushroom mixture and remaining butter, adding enough reserved pasta water to moisten., In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add scallops and shrimp; sear until scallops are golden brown and firm and shrimp turn pink, about 2-3 minutes on each side. Combine with pasta and sauce; sprinkle with remaining parsley., ,

BRAISED OCTOPUS WITH SPAGHETTI

Steps:

• Pour 6 tablespoons of the olive oil into the saucepan, and set it over low heat. Scatter the onion slices over the bottom of the pan, and lay the octopuses on top. Scatter the olives over the octopuses, cover the pan, and let the octopuses heat slowly, releasing their liquid, and starting to cook in it. After an hour or so, uncover the pan and check to see that there is plenty of octopus liquid in the pan. If it seems dry, add 1 cup of water at a time. This recipe should yield 2 cups of sauce when the octopus is done.
• Continue the covered slow cooking for another hour, until the octopuses are very tender. Start testing for doneness after 1 3/4 hours: stick the tines of a fork in the thickest part of each octopus; when the fork slides out easily, the meat is done.
• Remove the octopuses from the pot, and let them cool slightly. To make a meaty octopus sauce, cut both octopuses into 3/4-inch chunks, skin and all (or you can leave the octopuses whole for serving). Measure the liquid remaining in the saucepan. Again, you should have about 2 cups total. If the volume is greater, return the juices to the saucepan and boil to reduce it. Put the cut octopus meat and the juices in the skillet for dressing the pasta.
• Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil (at least 6 quarts water with 1 tablespoon salt). Drop in the spaghetti, stirring and separating the strands. Cover the pot, return the water to a boil over high heat, then set the cover ajar and cook the pasta until barely al dente.
• As the spaghetti cooks, bring the octopus meat and sauce in the skillet to a rapid simmer; taste, and add 1/4 teaspoon salt if needed (octopus is naturally salty). Stir in the parsley.
• Lift the spaghetti from the pot, drain briefly, and drop it into the skillet. Toss the pasta and the simmering sauce together for a minute or two, until the spaghetti is nicely coated with sauce and perfectly al dente, and the octopus chunks are distributed throughout the pasta. Turn off the heat, drizzle over the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil, and toss again. Heap the spaghetti into warm bowls, making sure each portion gets plenty of octopus pieces, and serve immediately.