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Hey friends! Are we loving this fall weather or what?! And this fall food?!?! Mmmm, warming spices, pumpkin and other squash varieties… PERSIMMONS? Okay, I know most people don’t eat persimmons… and I know they have nothing to do with seafood pasta… but I literally wait in excitement for them all year long and just had to share that. I can’t wait for you to check out my favorite fall-tastic persimmon recipes, like roasted root vegetables with fennel and persimmon. You will be converted if you’re not a lover already so stay tuned for more in the coming weeks.

It’s the perfect season for comfort food and you’re about to get a whole lot of it. However, where I live in California it is just starting to cool off (finally). So, I didn’t want anything too heavy this week. That’s where perfect seafood pasta comes in! Pasta dishes are comforting and hardy, but can be lightened up with lots of veggies and in this case seafood! The seafood leaves you satiated without weighing you down like red meat can sometimes. Plus, ordering something like this at a restaurant can usually be close to $35 a serving, but we are going to make it ourselves and cut costs way back. It’s nice to know that eating at home is not only good for the environment but good for the pocket.

Down in Los Angeles, California the tomato bushes in our garden are producing their last fruits and the basil plants are going crazy now that the heat wave has finally subsided. I know right? All my gardener friends out there are probably thinking tomatoes and basil in November? I know, I’m spoiled! These puppies pictured above are like candy. I wish you could try them! But don’t worry, I have some substitution ideas for those of us whose climates are baring more traditional fall fares, otherwise feel free to bookmark this one for spring/ summer recipes! You’ll definitely be glad you did.

There are a couple of key players in this seafood pasta that really make it a nutritional rock star. Besides being packed with plenty of veggies this pasta is packed with a variety of shellfish… serious nutritional powerhouses and ghee: a powerhouse healthy fat. It also has an amazing brown sugar, nutty flavor that pairs so well with shrimp and scallops. Let’s take a closer look:

Nutrition Deep Dive:

*Please appreciate the pun in that heading*

Oysters: Amazing source of fat- soluble vitamin D3; something that most American’s are deficient in. Also an insanely incredible source of zinc, copper, selenium, iron, omega- 3 fatty acids, vitamin B12, and a great source of magnesium, phosphorus, niacin, thiamin, vitamin C, manganese and riboflavin. PLUS, bivalves (think clams, oysters, mussels, etc) pull nutrients out of the ocean and are easy cultivated. So on the sustainability front they are a good choice. AND interestingly enough they don’t have a brain or central nervous system so scientists theorize they are not sentient like others in the animal kingdom. There happens to be a group of vegans that only eat bivalves for this reason and their unmistakable nutritional value. Whew!

Clams: Amazing source of iron, vitamin B12, and selenium. Also a great source of vitamin A, vitamin C, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, copper, manganese, riboflavin, niacin, omega-3 fatty acids and thiamin.

Mussels: Amazing source of vitamin B12, selenium and manganese. Also a great source of vitamin C, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, phosphorus, potassium, copper and zinc.

Pasture Raised Ghee: Fat soluble vitamins!!! Vitamin A, vitamin K2 and Vitamin E. You make it by slowly heating butter. The milk solids separate from the fat and leave behind a lactose free fat that is resistant to oxidation. Yay! Make sure to buy pasture raised. Cows are ruminants and instinctually eat grass, not soy and corn! You do not want the cream that makes ghee to come from mistreated cows. Their milk is not as richly dense in nutrients as a high nutrient grass diet, the milk has a higher ratio of omega 6s to 3s (considered bad fats), and possible growth hormones and antibiotics can be present in their milk!

Perfect Seafood Pasta:

Kelsey

Yields 4 Servings

Perfect Seafood Pasta

10 minPrep Time

45 minCook Time

55 minTotal Time

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Ingredients

For the Scallops
• 7 clean, sustainably caught scallops (out of the shell)
• 2 medium cloves of garlic minced
• 2 cloves shallot minced
• 1/4 a medium onion diced
• 2 Tbsp pasture raised (grass-fed) ghee
• 5 mushrooms (favorite variety) diced
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
For the pasta:
• 1/4 lb shelled and deveined sustainably caught shrimp
• 7 fresh, raw, clean, sustainably caught clams See note
• 7 fresh, raw, clean, sustainably caught mussels
• 7 fresh, raw, clean, sustainably caught oysters
• 8 oz pasta: penne or a flat long noodle would work nicely. I used a fresh herbed tagliatelle that I got from the farmers' market.
• 1/4 cup red wine
• Water or seafood stock as needed
• 2 heaping Tbsp capers
• 2 heaping Tbsp tapenade, olive paste or minced Kalamata olives
• 2 Tbsp ghee
• 3/4 a medium onion chopped
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 1 clove shallot minced
• 1 cup fresh cherry tomatoes or 1 cup organic crushed tomatoes
• 1 bundle parsley coarsely chopped
For garnish:
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Red pepper flakes to taste (optional)
• 1 handful of basil
• 1 small diced hot red pepper (optional) I used a variety I grow in my garden called Super Chili

Instructions

1. Make sure your mussels, clams and oysters are still alive by firmly tapping on the shells or gently trying to pry open any that are slightly ajar. The shell should close. If not, toss it.
For the scallops:
2. Heat 2 Tbsp of ghee on medium low heat on a medium sized sauce pan
3. Add mushrooms, 1/4 of the onion, 2 cloves of garlic and shallots to the pan. Stir occasionally until onions, shallots and garlic and fragrant and translucent.
4. Add scallops to pan making sure the are each on ghee.
5. Cook for two minutes or until bottom side is starting to look a little opaque.
6. Flip the scallops over and add lemon juice. Cook for about another two minutes, making sure the scallops are mostly opaque, but not over cooked. Do not let them get hard and rubbery, and remember they will cook a little more when they are added to the pasta.
7. Remove the scallops and vegetables from the pan and set aside.
8. Add 2 Tbsp ghee and the rest of the shallots, garlic and onion to a large sauce on medium heat.
9. Meanwhile start boiling water for the pasta and add a pinch of salt to the water.
10. Add the 1/4 cup red wine and cherry tomatoes. Wait until the cherry tomatoes are soft and mush them. I used a spatula, but if you have a mashed potato smasher that would work nicely!
11. Once the tomatoes are starting to breakdown add the mussels, clams, oysters, capers and olives. Cover the pan with a lid.
12. At this point add the pasta to the boiling water. Follow the instructions on the package. I got my pasta fresh from the farmers' market and it took about 5 minutes to cook. Don't overcook it! It will cook a bit more in the pan.
13. Once all the shellfish has opened remove the lid of the pan. If any of the shellfish fail to open, remove them and throw them away.
14. Add the shrimp now. Make sure the liquid levels are sufficient. You don't want it soupy, but you also don't want the cooking liquid to completely reduce into a paste.
15. Add in the reserved scallops
16. Drain the pasta and add it, the parsley and the scallops.
17. Toss everything together and make sure that all the seafood is cooked all the way through. You want the shrimp the just start to curl and turn pink. If they cook for too long they get rubbery!
For Serving:
18. Cut the basil into thin ribbons
19. Serve immediately with basil, red pepper flakes, and hot pepper to garnish the bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste! (Don't forget the capers and olives add quite a bit of saltiness)!
20. Enjoy lovelies! <3

Notes

*This seafood pasta is flexible! If you don't have every type of seafood the recipe calls for, don't sweat it! The farmers' market didn't have oysters the week I photographed this recipe so I just increased the amounts of the other fish to about 10 each instead of 7. *If you don't have access to fresh cherry tomatoes, a cup of organic crushed tomatoes will work great, and if you don't have parsley growing right now kale, chard, spinach or any other hardy winter green will work wonderfully! You may need a pinch more salt though to counter balance the bitter greens.

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