A seafood extravaganza popular throughout Italy’s coastal regions where fresh seafood is plentiful! This dish is called Spaghetti allo Scoglio in Italian, which means spaghetti ‘on the rock‘ because it features several mollusks that live ‘on the rock’ (allo scoglio) such as clams and mussels.
In the video recipe below, Italian Grandma demonstrates how to make the Seafood Spaghetti recipe she makes for her family on special occasions. Grandma Lulu even adds something extra special she found at the grocery: mantis shrimp! However, feel free to leave them out since they are not that easy to come by. You can find Nonna Lulu’s recipe in our new cookbook:
Pasta Affair: 50 Authentic Italian Recipes
Seductive strands of pasta and sumptuous sauces… Are you ready to indulge in an unforgettable Pasta Affair? It’s the best pasta cookbook for beginners and a must-have for any serious lover of Italian food, featuring over 50 classic pasta recipes you can make at home!
Watch the Video Recipe!
Watch Italian Grandma Lulu prepare this Seafood Spaghetti recipe!
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How to Make Seafood Spaghetti: Tips
The ultimate Italian Seafood Pasta recipe! Spaghetti with clams, mussels, calamari, squid, shrimp and scampi— a seafood lover’s dream! This dish is popular year-round wherever and whenever fresh seafood can be found. It’s a rich and delicious special occasion dish which is often served on Christmas Eve when Italians don’t eat meat.
Sometimes called Seafood Marinara Pasta abroad, this is the definitive seafood pasta recipe! Rich in shellfish (mussels and clams) as well as squid, calamari and shrimp, this pescatarian recipe has it all.
Save time and money? Buy clam juice and frozen or shelled shellfish.
To save money or time, use pre-prepared shellfish meat and clam juice instead of buying the shellfish fresh in the shell.
We think our Italian Grandma’s recipe is the best —and think you’ll agree— but feel free to adjust the quantities of seafood or leave something out if you prefer.
Strain the seafood broth.
Even shellfish that have been rinsed well can sometimes have sand in them that comes out while steaming.
To avoid ruining your savory seafood broth with grains of sand, be sure to strain the broth into a bowl before adding it to the seafood pasta sauce.
Use products made from San Marzano tomatoes.
To find the best quality tomato purée, look for products that say they are made with San Marzano tomatoes. These tomatoes are world-renowned for being sweet and flavorful.
Don’t over salt!
Remember that seafood broth is naturally salty. When the recipe says to add a pinch of salt, we really do mean just a pinch! It’s better to add little to no salt during the cooking process. Then, taste after the shellfish broth has been added to see if extra salt is needed.
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Seafood Spaghetti Recipe
Ingredients
Seafood
- 1 lb mussels cleaned and debearded
- 1 lb clams cleaned and debearded
- 4 scampi
- ½ lb shrimp
- 2 calamari cubed
- 1 squid thick slices
- 4 mantis shrimp OPTIONAL
Seafood Spaghetti Sauce
- 10 cherry tomatoes halved
- 2 tbsp tomato purée
- 1 handful flatleaf parsley minced
- 5 cloves garlic
- 1 fresh red chili pepper halved
- ½ cup white wine
- ½ cup olive oil or as needed
- fine salt to taste
- black pepper to taste
- ¾ lb spaghetti
Instructions
Prep Seafood
- Slice the squid into cubes and the calamari into thick slices. Cut any tentacles in half.1 squid
- Use scissors to cut the legs off of the scampi and the optional mantis shrimp.4 scampi, 4 mantis shrimp
Steam the Shellfish
- Cover the bottom of a large saucepan or skillet with olive oil. Over medium-high heat, sauté 2 cloves of garlic in the oil to infuse the oil with garlic.½ cup olive oil, 5 cloves garlic
- Add the mussels and clams to the pan. Cover and steam the shellfish over medium-high heat until most of the shells have opened up. Discard any un-opened shellfish as they may be unsafe to eat.1 lb mussels, 1 lb clams
- Strain the broth produced by the shellfish. Set aside for use in the sauce.
- Remove the shellfish meat from half of the clams and mussels. Let the meat rest in the strained broth until ready to use in the sauce.Set aside the shellfish still in their shells. We'll use this to decorate the dish. Discard the garlic cloves.
Cook the Scampi, Squid and Calamari
- Cover the bottom of a large saucepan or skillet with olive oil. Over medium-high heat, sauté 2 cloves of garlic and the red pepper (halved) in the oil to infuse the oil.1 fresh red chili pepper
- Add the scampi to the pan. Cook uncovered in the oil for about 3 minutes, flipping the scampi halfway through. Then, remove the cooked scampi and set aside. Discard the garlic and pepper.
- Add the calamari and squid to the pan with the flavored oil. Cook uncovered for about 3 minutes over medium heat. Season with a small pinch of salt and black pepper.2 calamari, black pepper
- Add the white wine to deglaze the pan. When the wine has mostly evaporated, time to make the sauce!½ cup white wine
Make the Seafood Spaghetti Sauce
- To the pan with the calamari and squid, add the tomato purée and the halved cherry tomatoes. Season with a pinch of salt.10 cherry tomatoes, 2 tbsp tomato purée, fine salt
- Cook uncovered over medium-high heat for about 3 minutes.
- Add mantis shrimp (optional), shrimp, and the seafood broth with the cooked shellfish meat.½ lb shrimp
- Cover and cook the sauce for 5 minutes.
Finish with Spaghetti
- Cook the spaghetti to 'al dente' according to package directions.¾ lb spaghetti
- Strain and add the spaghetti to the pasta sauce. Add the minced parsley. Toss to combine the spaghetti with the seafood sauce.1 handful flatleaf parsley
- Add the scampi and mussels and clams in the shell back to the pan for serving.
“Looks fabulous! We wish we were there to enjoy it! We’re definitely going to make this dish! Thank you Grandma Lulu!”
“Beautiful, Now that’s Italian.”
“It’s a brilliant recipe so appetizing… I’m going to try this today! 😊
and I absolutely love the presentation!”
“You are Great, grandma! Thank you for this!”
“Gnamm super 😋 👌 gnamm mi sono appena iscritta 👏”
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️😒❤️❤️❤️❤️very good
Thanks so much
“❤️❤️❤️💯”
“I have eaten versions of this from many Italian Nonnas starting with my own as a boy and this one is true perfection. We don’t commonly have mantis shrimp here in the States but sometimes I do use Langoustines and Bay Scallops to the mix. Or whatever I can find that is fresh and of best quality..
Bravo Nonna Lulu & bellissimo. ! 😋😍🤩😋”