The Dish-Off Recipe

Photo by Rina Jordan for City Arts

A recipe for puttanesca from our friends at Avila

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound Manila clams, rinsed under cold running water
1 pound black mussels, beards removed and rinsed
2 tablespoons anchovies, minced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup white wine
1 teaspoon sherry vinegar
1 tablespoon marjoram (oregano will substitute), chopped
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
1 pinch cayenne pepper
¼ cup good-quality olive oil
juice of two lemons
1 teaspoon sugar
½ cup Kalamata olives, slivered
2 tablespoons capers, fried
1 tablespoon parsley, chopped

Directions:

Thoroughly clean the clams and mussels, removing the beards of the mussles and scrapping off any material stuck to the shell. Make sure to toss out any cracked shells or ones that are open and won't close after a sharp tap. Oil a pan just large enough to hold the shellfish all in one layer and arrange the shellfish therein. Add the anchovies, garlic, wine, vinegar, tomatoes, marjoram, and cayenne to the pan. Set the pan over medium-high heat, cover and bring to a simmer for approx ten minutes or until all of the clams and mussels have opened and released their juices. Set the whole pan aside to cool to room temperature. 

Carefully remove the mussels and clams from their shells and set the meat aside in a bowl with the olives and fried capers (toss the shells). Take all the juices, tomatoes, etc from the pan and place in a blender. Blend on high until silky smooth, then slowly add in the  olive oil. Season to taste with the lemon juice and sugar.

To serve, warm the Puttanesca sauce base until quite hot, add in the mussels, clams, olive, capers, and parsley and swirl around for a minute until everything is piping hot. Serve over pasta or, for our version, over a grilled swordfish steak.

To read a little bit about the inspiration behind this dish (for Chef Alex Pitts, anyway), read our Dish-Off column in the February 2010 issue of City Arts Seattle, available now at several locations around town.

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