This seafood pasta is a mix of shrimp, clams, mussels and scallops, all tossed together with spaghetti in a homemade tomato sauce. An easy yet elegant meal that’s perfect for entertaining!
When I have friends and family over, I often serve seafood such as classic cioppino, bacon wrapped scallops, shrimp kabobs or this simple yet totally satisfying seafood pasta.
Whenever I go to my local Italian restaurant, I order their special mixed seafood pasta. It can get expensive to go out to eat, so I decided to recreate my favorite restaurant dish at home. This pasta features plenty of fresh seafood tossed in a homemade sauce, and I think it’s even better than the restaurant version!
How do you make seafood pasta?
This recipe starts with an easy homemade tomato sauce, which is made with garlic onions, tomato puree and seasonings. While the sauce is simmering, it’s time to cook the pasta and seafood. The shrimp and scallops are cooked first, then the mussels and clams are steamed in a bit of cooking liquid from the pasta. Toss the spaghetti, seafood and tomato sauce together, then serve and enjoy!
Tips for seafood pasta
- The tomato sauce can be made up to 2 days in advance. You can store it in the refrigerator until you are ready to cook the pasta and seafood.
- While I prefer to make my own sauce for this recipe, you can substitute a jar of your favorite marinara sauce if you’re short on time.
- I use 31-40 count sized shrimp in this recipe. You can go for larger or smaller shrimp, but I find this size to be good because it’s approximately the same size as the scallops.
- Any mix of seafood will work here, other great options include chunks of fish, lobster or calamari.
- No spaghetti on hand? Try a different long pasta such as fettuccine, angel hair or linguine.
How to prepare mussels and clams
Mussels and clams taste great, but they require some special handling. You want to get live mussels and clams from the store. If the mussels or clams have open shells, tap on them and they should close, which means they’re alive and fine to eat. If the mussels and clams stay open before cooking, discard them.
Live mussels and clams need to be stored in the refrigerator. They should only be stored for one to two days and you want to store them in open containers in the refrigerator with a damp towel on top. Although they live in the sea, they should not be stored in water and if any water accumulates in the container, it should be drained every day. If the clams and mussels don’t smell like the sea, or they smell off, discard them.
Before cooking clams or mussels, place them in a bowl of cold water for about 20 minutes. This allows the shellfish to expel sand. Remove the shellfish from the water and discard the sandy water.
Remove the beards (the little furry bit from the flat side) from mussels. You can remove the beards by pulling by hand on the fibers toward the hinge of the mussel. You can hold the mussels with a towel to get a better grip and protect your hands.
Scrub the shellfish with a brush under cold water to remove any dirt, sand, or broken shell bits. After you have cooked the shellfish, discard any that don’t open during the cooking process.
HOW LONG TO COOK SEAFOOD
The seafood ingredients in this recipe cook at different rates, so you’ll want to cook the shrimp and scallops first, then remove them when you cook the clams and mussels so that they don’t get overcooked and tough.
- Clams: 4-6 minutes
- Scallops: 3-4 minutes
- Mussels: 3-4 minutes
- Shrimp: 2-3 minutes
Everyone will be so impressed when you serve up this delectable seafood pasta. I love to serve it for special occasions because it always gets rave reviews.
More great seafood recipes
- Baked Salmon with Garlic Butter
- Shrimp Tacos with Mango Salsa
- Bacon Wrapped Scallops
- Shrimp Ceviche
- New Orleans BBQ Shrimp
Seafood Pasta
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil divided use
- 1/2 cup onion finely chopped
- 2 teaspoons garlic minced
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes optional
- 28 ounce can San Marzano Whole Tomatoes pureed in a blender or food processor
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 12 ounces spaghetti or other long pasta
- 1/2 pound shrimp peeled and deveined, leave tails on if desired for nicer presentation
- 1/2 pound sea scallops
- 1/2 pound clams scrubbed
- 1/2 pound mussels scrubbed and de-bearded
- 2 tablespoons parsley chopped
Instructions
- Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add the onions and cook for 4-5 minutes or until softened. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute.
- Stir in the red pepper flakes (optional), then add the pureed tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Bring to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes or until sauce has just started to thicken. Stir in the butter, then remove the sauce from the heat.
- While the sauce is simmering, cook the spaghetti in a large pot of salted water according to package directions.
- Drain the pasta, reserving 3/4 cup of the pasta cooking liquid.
- Heat the remaining tablespoon of olive oil in a large pan over high heat. Season the scallops with salt and pepper, then add them to the pan.
- Cook the scallops for 1-2 minutes per side or until browned and opaque.
- Remove the scallops from the pan. Season the shrimp with salt and pepper and add them to the pan. Cook for 3-4 minutes or until pink and opaque.
- Remove the shrimp from the pan. Place the clams and mussels in the pan, along with the reserved pasta water. Bring to a simmer.
- Cover and cook for 4-6 minutes or until clams and mussels have opened. Discard any shells that did not open.
- Add the shrimp and scallops back to the pan along with the tomato sauce and spaghetti. Toss to coat everything with the sauce.
- Sprinkle with parsley, then serve.
The best ever
Love it easy and delicious
If there are left overs can you heat the next day
Yes that’s fine!
Making tonight!! Do you drain the tomatoes before putting into the food processor, please, or dump in with the juice from the can? Thanks!
You use the juice too!
Ohh this is so fancy and totally the type of dish my husband would order out at a seafood restaurant. I’m really thinking this is what I’m going to make for dinner on Valentine’s Day!
This recipe was hands down delicious. I made it only with shrimp as I did not have all the seafood ingredients and it was wonderful!
The combination of shrimp, scallops, and mussels in a flavorful marinara sauce is simply divine. It’s the perfect dish to impress dinner guests or enjoy for a special night in. Delicious!
Oh this was beyond delicious and i am so glad I tried this recipe. We were a little stuck in a rut always cooking seafood pasta with white wine sauce, but oh my, your rich tomato sauce was soooo good, that I don’t think we’ll go back to our recipe anytime soon! Loved it.
This seafood pasta looks absolutely delicious. I love it that you add different varieties of seafood like clam and mussel.
This recipe was an absolute win. I followed it to a T, but doubled the sauce so I’d have some leftover to freeze to use as pizza sauce, and used fresh, homemade pasta. I love that you’ve written the recipe with separate cooking times for each shellfish, as the cook on those is make or break for the dish. Impressive presentation and even more impressive taste! Fantastic recipe and I’ll definitely be making again; thank you!
Haven’t made yet but looks yummy. I def agree this would take a lot more prep time. I’m using a bag of Aqua Star seafood medley. I got a deal at Publix so I thought I’d buy. I know the seafood cooks take times, but I’m just going to mix together. I’ve not been well. I really enjoy dinner then dessert. Wished we had internet when my 3 kids were small for recipes. They are way into their 40’s.
I made mine fra diavolo with shrimp, mussels, calamari, and canned large escargot. Everything is about timing when it comes to the seafood and like you posted, cooked separately since none cook at the same time or temp. Calamari for about 1 to 1.5 minutes, shrimp (depending on size) just a tad longer, mussels til they pop open, and escargot to reheat since they’re cooked already. This is not a dish you make ahead of time. It has to be prepared right before serving as the seafood continues to cook after being removed from the pan. Great post and I hope people learn seafood isn’t scary to prepare if it’s done correctly.
Can I use a frozen seafood mix
Yes that should be fine.
Yes, but separate the seafood into mussels, squid, etc. since they cook at different times.
This recipe looks great However, the PREP time is definitely longer than 10 minutes. It takes a little bit of time to prep and clean the fish. … the muscle needs to come off of the scallop, the shrimp needs to be peeled (and deveined if desired) the clams and mussels need to be soaked and scrubbed. I like the recipe though!
Question… I plan on making this for Christmas Eve and wondering if I could make the sauce the day before but save the fish and pasta cooking to right before the guests arrive? (I also plan on adding red wine and Basil to the recipe.)
Soooooo good!!!