During our last trip to the Amalfi Coast, we spent a ton of time on the water, and ate as much seafood as possible, especially seafood pasta. You can see some of our fun dining experiences from that trip on our Travel/Italy section. There’s so much to pick from– red shrimp, mussels, clams, lobsters, fish, and sea urchins.
Our hotel, Palazzo Avino in Ravello, had a fantastic beach club that offered kayak rentals. One day while we were down at the water, we decided to take the kayaks out for a spin and check out the coastline. There were little remote beaches and even a waterfall in a hidden cove. The rocks popping out of the water were covered with mussels. All of the sudden, a local man showed up in a kayak with a bright red pail and began collecting the mussels straight off the rocks. If only we had a kitchen, we would have collected some to bring home for dinner.
One of the reasons we love Northern California is because it reminds us of the Mediterranean in many ways — the food, the climate, wine country, and of course the beautiful coast. We took a short (and seemingly treacherous) drive down the California coast last weekend and it reminded us of the Amalfi Coast.
It’s amazing how many memories the beautiful jagged coasts brings back. Being on the coast and thinking back to our kayak trip inspired this Pasta from the Rocks we made for dinner this week.
We used our favorite pasta, bucatini, and paired it with a collection of seafood that you would eat on the Amalfi Coast, including shrimp, clams, squid, and of course mussels. We finished it all off and served it straight from our favorite Mauviel Copper Sauté Pan (c/o).
We paired it with a crisp white wine. We’d suggest paring it with Ravello’s Marisa Cuomo white wine or a Sicilian white such as Grillo. For a domestic option, we would pair it with this Grgich Hills Estate white wine.
A fun dinner with friends remembering the Amalfi Coast! For more Amalfi Coast inspired recipes try our lobster pasta or pasta with clams.
- 1 package bucatini
- 1 lb mussels (scrubbed)
- 1 lb clams (scrubbed and purged)
- 1 lb squid, cleaned (see how here)
- ½ lb shrimp, cleaned and peeled
- 1-2 dried Italian chili pepper, chopped
- 1-2 Tablespoons olive oil
- salt
- pepper
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- splash, dry white wine
- parsley, chopped (optional)
- In a large pot, salt water so that it tastes like the sea. Bring the water to a boil and cook the bucatini according to the package directions, less 2 minutes. Complete the next step while the pasta is boiling.
- In a large sauté pan, heat the olive oil and add chili pepper and garlic.
- When the garlic just begins to turn golden, add all of the seafood and splash of white wine and cover until the shellfish opens. Remove any that do not open.
- Once the pasta is done, move it directly to the sauté pan with tongs or a spider strainer along with a ¼ cup of the pasta water. Toss to coat well.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste. If you like, top with chopped parsley.