Seafood Pasta

While I’m always a fan of the most simple versions of pasta, specifically spaghetti with tomato sauce and spaghetti with olive oil and garlic, every now and then you need a reasonably easy recipe for something a bit more fancy – like seafood pasta.

If you happen to have a seafood medley in your freezer (Hint: Trader Joe’s has one that’s pretty good and very reasonably priced at around $8 for a bag), alongside a few pantry staples everyone usually has available, you can call this dinner in about the time it takes to heat water and boil the pasta.

This recipe allows for wide variations. Don’t have bell peppers? Got frozen peas or frozen corn? Use those instead. All you really need is the tomato sauce, or any can of tomatoes for that matter and the seafood along with garlic, onions and a few spices. Also, feel free to substitute any type of pasta for the spaghetti I’m using.  Some kind of curly pasta is probably a good choice since it holds on to the sauce a lot better.

At around $3 per serving this dish is not only quite tasty, it also doesn’t break the bank.

Seafood Pasta

A quick and easy seafood pasta recipe made from frozen seafood. This can be whipped up in under 20 minutes and costs less than the average burger. What's not to like?

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Prep Time 8 minutes mins

Cook Time 12 minutes mins

Total Time 20 minutes mins

Course Dinner, Lunch, Main Course, Pasta

Cuisine Italian

Servings 2

Ingredients

  

• 1/2 onion, diced
• 1/2 bell pepper, diced use frozen veggies if you don't have a bell pepper
• 1 stick celery, diced optional
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 tomato, peeled and diced optional, just use more canned tomato
• 8 oz canned tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes or any can of tomatoes, just chop them up
• 8 oz seafood mix, frozen or just shrimps if you have
• 4 sprigs parsley, chopped finely
• 1 tsp oregano, dried
• 1 tsp red peppers, crushed
• 1 tsp salt add more to taste
• 4 oz parmesan or asagio, grated
• 4 oz dried pasta, i.e. spaghetti long pasta that's about 1/2 inch diameter bundle per person

Instructions

 

• Chop the onion, tomato (if used) and the vegetables if you use fresh ones.  In the meantime bring a large pot of water to a boil.
  
• In a high-walled pan, quickly sautee the seafood mix in a bit of fat or oil of your choice. After a few minutes evacuate the seafood into a container and set aside for later. You don't want to overcook the seafood.
  
• Pan back on the stove, add a little more fat and sautee the onions and vegetables with a dash of salt (kosher preferred). Once the onions turn translucent after a few minutes add the tomato sauce. This is also a good time to add the pasta to the boiling water and set a timer to whatever the package said - usually 8 to 10 minutes. If you happen to use fresh pasta,  cook that at the very end as fresh pasta only takes 2-3 minutes to cook.
• Add the spices to your sauce - and stir occasionally. Turn down to medium or even medium low if it bubbles too happily.
• Just before the pasta is done cooking, add the seafood back to the pan. Drain your pasta.
  
• Plate your pasta, divide the sauce over the plates and grate some parmesan over them. Maybe add a sprinkle of chopped parsley as garnish.

Notes

Yes, you may have noticed the white chunks in the picture. It's a soft goat cheese called chevre. Adds a bit of tang and creamyness to the dish. You should try it. I always have some in my fridge.