SCUNGILLI IN MARINARA SAUCE WITH LINGUINE

Scungilli in Marinara Sauce with Linguine image

Yield makes 6 servings

Number Of Ingredients 11

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds frozen scungilli, or 20 pieces fresh scungilli in their shells
3 bay leaves
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
6 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
One 35-ounce can Italian plum tomatoes (preferably San Marzano) with their liquid, crushed
1 teaspoon crushed hot red pepper
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon dried oregano, preferably the Sicilian or Greek type dried on the branch, crumbled
Salt
1 pound linguine
1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley

Steps:

Cook and clean the scungilli as described on page 44, cooking them until almost but not quite tender, about 25 minutes. Reserve 2 cups of the cooking liquid and slice the scungilli thin.
Make the sauce: Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Scatter the garlic over the oil and cook, shaking the skillet, until golden, about 2 minutes. Add the scungilli and cook, turning the pieces continuously, until light golden, about 4 minutes. Season lightly with salt.
Pour the tomatoes into the skillet, and add the crushed red pepper, 2 bay leaves, and oregano. Bring to a vigorous boil, season lightly with salt, and boil 10 minutes. Lower the heat so the sauce is at a lively simmer and cook until the scungilli are tender, about 30 minutes. Add the reserved scungilli-cooking liquid a little at a time to keep the consistency more or less the same as the sauce cooks. The finished sauce should not be too watery.
While the sauce is simmering, bring 6 quarts of salted water to a boil in an 8-quart pot.
When the scungilli are tender, reduce the heat under the skillet to very low. Stir the linguine into the boiling water. Return to a boil, stirring frequently. Cook the pasta, semi-covered, stirring occasionally, until very al dente, about 5 minutes.
Drain the pasta, return it to the pot, and ladle in about three-quarters of the sauce. Add the parsley and bring the sauce and pasta to a boil, stirring to coat the pasta with sauce. Simmer, tossing until the pasta is done, about 2 minutes. Check the seasoning, adding salt and crushed red pepper if necessary. Serve the pasta immediately in warm bowls, spooning the remaining sauce over the pasta.
Prepare the marinara sauce as above, omitting the scungilli and simmering the sauce for a total of 20 minutes. Heat an additional 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat, add 2 cloves crushed garlic, and cook until lightly browned. Add 1/2 pound sea scallops, each cut into two equal rounds and patted dry. Cook, stirring, until lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Remove the scallops with a slotted spoon and add 1/2 pound of medium-size shelled shrimp, deveined and cut into 1/2-inch pieces. Cook until the shrimp are bright pink on all sides. Stir the scallops and shrimp into the sauce, simmer 3 minutes, and proceed as above.