fishingmonthly.com.au front page
Home Help Subscribe Now!
Archives Weekly Fishing Reports Latest Tournament Results Current Magazines Contact Fishing Monthly Staff

Shell-Sational!
by Lynn Bain

PICTURE some pasta in the shape of large clam shells, filled with beautiful seafood... baked in a fresh-tasting tomato sauce and sprinkled with a little mozzarella cheese… I’m sure you’re starting to imagine the delicious flavours in this recipe. Just wait until you taste them and you’ll see what I mean.

Large pasta clam shells can be purchased at any good deli. The pasta used in this recipe was purchased at the Continental Food Warehouse on Balaclava Street, Woolloongabba.

SEAFOOD FILLING

Ingredients

  • 1 packet clam shell pasta
  • Grated mozzarella cheese
  • Flesh from a cooked sand crab
  • 500g green prawns
  • 1 shallot, finely chopped
  • 1/2 clove garlic, crushed
  • 1/4 cup white wine
  • 1 egg, lightly beaten

Preparation

• To make the seafood filling, peel and de-vein the green prawns. Chop each prawn into three or four pieces.

• Add the prawns to the crab meat with the rest of the ingredients for the seafood filling. Mix thoroughly but very gently. This will incorporate the egg through the mixture without breaking up the crab flesh too much.

TOMATO SAUCE

Ingredients

  • 2x 440g tins tomato pieces
  • 5-6 leaves fresh basil
  • 1 clove garlic, crushed
  • 1/2 cup white wine

Preparation

• Add the ingredients for the tomato sauce to a saucepan and cook over a medium heat. Continue to cook until the contents are reduced to a thick, sauce-like consistency.

• Bring a generous amount of water to the boil in a large stockpot and add a good dollop of olive oil before adding the pasta (oil stops the shells from sticking together). About 10 minutes will get the pasta to the al dente stage. Be careful not to overcook them – when overcooked they can fall apart while you are filling them.

• Drain the pasta shells.

• Preheat your oven to 180C/375F and lightly oil a baking dish.

• In a single layer, carefully place the filled pasta shells into the baking dish. Pour the tomato sauce over the top of the seafood shells before sprinkling with a little mozzarella cheese.

• Place the baking dish into the oven and bake for about 20 minutes. 20 minutes in the oven will cook the green prawns and melt the cheese topping to a beautiful, bubbling golden brown.

Serve the seafood pasta shells with lots of bread, a green salad, and a hearty appetite.

The seafood in this recipe was supplied by Sam’s Seafood, Hamilton (ph. (07) 3633 4700).