Linguine With Seafood, Spinach And Feta

Linguine With Seafood, Spinach And Feta 

As you may have noticed, I like to cook a lot of different things. Many people are a little limited in what they are willing to try. Since the Great Lisle Flood of 2013, I've been doing a lot of cooking for my new housemates, and they seem to love everything everything I cook. They even like when I kick up the heat with hot peppers.

Back when I was hosting big dinners every Wednesday night, many of my guests were a little more reluctant to try some of my offerings. At times I would get strange reactions when I served some pasta dishes. 

I recall one time when I served a linguine with clam sauce which I made with whole baby clams. One guest complained that it looked like a bunch of greenish eyes staring up from the pasta. I asked how it tastes, she said, “Oh it tastes great, but those green eyes gross me out.” 

On another occasion, this particular recipe drew a complaint from a diner. She was uncomfortable with all the squiggly things. Boy, everybody thinks they are a critic!

I guess you could call this a Greek seafood pasta. I don’t know if Greeks make pasta like this, but if they don’t, they should! I know that if I lived in Greece and was going to make seafood pasta, this is how I'd make it.

This pasta uses that bag of frozen mixed seafood - shrimp, calamari, cuttlefish and scallops - that most markets carry. Since I live in the Chicago area, I can't afford to buy fresh, so frozen it is. 

Now, donʼt start complaining about the squiggly appearance of the calamari. Just dish it out and clean up your plate. You canʼt leave the table until you do. Oh, all right! You can substitute a pound of shelled and deveined shrimp instead. Don’t expect this kind of leniency all the time! This is an exception.

olive oil
1 small onion - minced fine

2 cloves garlic - minced fine

red pepper flakes
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 lb. frozen chopped spinach
1 28 oz. can ground tomatoes 

1 lb. frozen seafood mix
8 oz. feta - crumbled
1 lb. linguine

Preparation

Heat a large cast iron skillet over medium heat. Add a layer of olive oil and then the onion and garlic. Stir until the onion softens. Now add a generous sprinkle of red pepper flakes. Add the white wine and heat to a simmer.

Add the frozen spinach and stir until hot. Now add the ground tomatoes and heat to a simmer. After the sauce has simmered for ten minutes, add the seafood mix and heat until just cooked.

Cook the linguine until it is al dente. While that is cooking, stir the feta into the sauce and remove it from the heat. Go ahead and sprinkle a little cajun seasoning on it - Iʼll never tell. When the pasta is cooked, drain it and toss it with the sauce.

Serving

How would you make a meal with this pasta? I would start with a traditional Greek salad which would be followed by a bowl of clam soup. Donʼt forget that you would need a good crusty bread and some fruity olive oil for dipping. A big pile of this pasta should be served along with sautéed baby broccoli. Now, simply open a chilled bottle of Pinot Gris and sit down and feast. Life is good.