Seafood Linguine With Olive Oil and Tomatoes

I was blog hopping yesterday when I stumbled on a blog (A Latte' with OTT, A) hosting an "Iron Chef Challenge" where the themed ingredient for this month is canned tomatoes. It was a coincidence that I planned cooking an original recipe of mine which I call Seafood Linguine with Olive Oil and Tomatoes for dinner. (Yeah, non-Filipino recipe it is! I don't just cook Filipino food, you know. I like trying out recipes from other countries, but most of the time I adjust the ingredients to suit my Filipino taste buds.) Suddenly, I felt I'm up for the challenge. But I was supposed to use fresh tomatoes for this just as I always do, but since canned tomatoes is what the Iron Chef Challenge requires, of course, I substituted! :)

This linguine dish of mine is something seafood lovers like me will love. It's a very flexible dish  so you can use any seafood you want. I usually use shrimps, squid, and mussels. But I've already tried it with clams, scallops and fish fillet. It always turns out so scrumptious regardless of what seafood I use.

It's meatless Friday again here in Pinay In Texas Cooking Corner so let me share with you  this recipe. I'll also link this up to The Iron Chef Challenge and see what happens. Check it out and let me know what you think!

I'm also sharing this on Simple Lives Thurday, Fat Camp Friday, and  Feed Me Friday.

Prep Time: 15 mins          Cook Time: ~25 mins           Servings: 4                             

Ingredients:

• 1 lb linguine
• 8 pcs medium-sized squid - cleaned, innards removed and cut into rings
• 12 pcs. shrimps, peeled, deveined, and halved lengthwise
• 12 pcs. mussels, cooked and shells removed
• 1 14-oz can diced tomatoes
• 1 head garlic, minced
• ½ cup fresh Italian parsley, chopped
• 2 tsp celery salt
• ½  tsp blackpepper
• ½ cup finely shredded parmesan cheese for topping
• 4 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 Tbsp salt for cooking pasta 
• whole fresh parsley leaves for garnishing

Procedure:

1. Bring 3-4 quarts of water to a boil over medium-high heat, add 2 Tbsp salt and stir in the pasta. Cook until al dente, approximately 10 to 12 minutes. Drain the pasta well.
* Remember  that the secret to a good pasta is to cook it in plenty of water to avoid sticking. Adding oil to the pasta water can prevent sticking, but pasta that's cooked in oily water will become oily itself and, as a result, won't absorb the sauce and you'll have a flavorless pasta.

2. In a large skillet, sauté garlic until light brown. 

3. Add shrimps, squid and mussels. Saute just until shrimps turn pink, about 3 minutes. 
*  Be sure not to overcook the shrimps! Shrimps when overcooked will shrink and shrivel and will be all tough and stringy.

4. Add chopped parsley and tomatoes (including the juice from the can). Simmer for 5 minutes. Add celery salt and pepper. Mix well.

5. Add pasta. Toss just until the pasta is covered with the mixture. Remove from heat. Let sit for about 3 minutes to let the pasta absorb the sauce.

6. Divide into four equal servings. Sprinkle with shredded parmesan cheese and garnish with parsley.

7. Serve and enjoy!

This is one of my original recipes that Ryan and my girls love...we'll see if Ott' A's Iron Chef judges will love this too. Crossing my fingers! :)