Roasted Fish and Shellfish with Tomatoes and Parsley

Serves 6

This recipe was going to be a take on a Tuscan dish called tegamone, which is a hodgepodge of fish and shellfish that’s started on the stovetop with tomato and white wine, then baked in the oven. But I got carried away and ended up with this cross section of tasty marine life united by a light, tomato-wine-saffron cooking liquid and rounded out with pastina. The recipe is also noteworthy because it simultaneously poaches and roasts the ingredients by placing their cooking vessel in the hot confines of an oven. (I use a similar technique to braise lamb shanks.)

Just to let you know, starting at about Step five, this recipe gets pretty specific about where and how to add the seafood to the pot. It’s a bit unusual, but not difficult, and essential to getting everything to finish cooking at the same time. To make it as easy as possible to put the individual ingredients in the right place, select the widest pot you have so that you can get everything in there without trouble.

 

6 plum tomatoes, cut into small dice

Coarse salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Sugar

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 large Spanish onion, peeled and minced

3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

2 tablespoons tomato paste

2 cups dry white wine

1 quart store-bought, reduced-sodium chicken broth or homemade Chicken Stock

Pinch of saffron threads

1 cup pastina, couscous, or millet

12 small clams, cleaned and scrubbed

12 mussels, scrubbed and debearded

6 large scallops

20 ounces 1-inch-thick skinless swordfish steak, cut into 1-inch cubes

8 medium shrimp, preferably head on, shelled, deveined, and butterflied

2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves

 

1. Thirty minutes before you want to cook, put the tomatoes in a bowl and season with salt, pepper, and a pinch of sugar. Set aside.

2. Preheat the oven to 450°F.

3. Heat the olive oil in a wide, deep, ovenproof pot over medium-high heat until hot but not smoking. Add the onion and garlic and sauté until softened but not browned. Add the reserved tomato and tomato paste and cook, stirring, until the ingredients are well incorporated, a few minutes more.

4. Add the wine, bring to a boil, and cook, scraping up any bits stuck onto the bottom of the pot, until the wine is reduced by half. Add the chicken broth and saffron, bring the liquid to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat so that the liquid simmers. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary.

5. Add the pastina, scattering it evenly over the pot, and let it settle to the bottom. If using millet, let it cook for 15 minutes before proceeding.

6. Add the clams and mussels to the pot, confining them to one side, and carefully immerse them in the liquid. Season the scallops and swordfish with salt and pepper and carefully add them to the other side of the pot. Place the shrimp on top of the scallops and swordfish, pushing them just under the surface of the liquid.

7. Transfer the pot to the oven and roast for 7 or 8 minutes. Use tongs or a kitchen spoon to carefully turn over the mussels and clams. Cook for another 7 or 8 minutes until the scallops and shrimp are nicely plumped.

8. Remove the pot from the oven. If the shellfish haven’t popped open, use a slotted spoon to transfer the scallops, swordfish, and shrimp to a plate and cover with aluminum foil to keep warm. Cover the pot and place over medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes, or until the shellfish, or most of them, have popped open. Discard any shellfish that have not opened by this point.

9. To serve, use a slotted spoon to distribute the fish, scallops, and pasta among individual bowls. Ladle the broth on top and sprinkle each serving with the parsley.