Author Notes
My son has always loved clams with pasta or in chowder and he doesn’t mind if they come from a can but we both prefer them fresh and flavorful right out of the shell. Live clams and mussels straight from the fish market allow me to whip up a special dinner quickly on a weeknight. There’s something about seeing the pile of empty shells grow as we each create our own bowl of seafood pasta. Sometimes we eat them one by one and the brothy pasta is our satisfying finish and other nights we empty every shell before we dig into the seafood, pasta and broth combination. Make sure you have a spoon to get every sip of the yummy broth. Crispy crostini or a chewy bread like Acme Sweet Batard are also great ways to soak up the broth. - Angela @ the well-worn apron —Angela @ the well-worn apron
Test Kitchen Notes
Angela @ the well-worn apron keeps this brothy noodle dish very simple. The fragrant, rich saffron broth is wonderful with the salty mussels and clams. I only wish I had more pasta to twirl through the delicious broth but a hunk of crusty bread works well too. —Stephanie Bourgeois
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Ingredients
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1 pinch
saffron
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2 cups
seafood or chicken broth
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1 tablespoon
butter
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1
shallot, minced
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2 teaspoons
tomato paste or 1 grated roma tomato
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18
clams, scrubbed
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18
mussels, scrubbed and beards removed
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1/3 cup
crème fraiche
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2 ounces
Capellini, prepared following package instructions
Directions
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Warm the broth in the microwave, mix in the saffron and allow it to steep while the seafood is cleaned and the shallots cook.
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Melt butter over medium heat in pan or pot with a lid that is large enough to hold the broth and seafood. Add the shallots to the butter and sauté until softened then add tomato, broth and saffron. Bring the broth to a simmer. Add the seafood, cover and simmer until all the clams and mussels open, 7-10 minutes. Once most of the clams and mussels have opened discard any that haven’t opened and assemble pasta.
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Divide the pasta between two deep wide pasta or soup bowls, top each serving of pasta with half the clams and mussels. Whisk the crème fraiche into the broth over high heat until combined and heated. Pour the broth over the clams, mussels and pasta.
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