Rita cooked this dish for us at beautiful Nambucca Heads where the rocks are an incredible light blue.  Perhaps there were pirates on the coastline - anyway this was a version of Spaghetti Marinara which was superb. 

SPAGHETTI BUCCANIERI   (for 4)      {Pirate’s Spaghetti OR Spaghetti a la Rita}

 

 SUGO:

Gently (not too hot) in a small fry pan, fry 4 large, crushed, garlic cloves in olive oil for a minute – just to infuse the oil with garlic.
Add 4 quite ripe roma tomatoes, chopped up into smallish pieces.
Turn heat down, put a lid on the fry pan, and let simmer while doing the rest of the meal and  until well reduced.   Stir occasionally.
Add salt, t-spoon of sugar, herbs (recipe says just lots of parsley, but I add basil and sage too) a dollop of red wine and cayenne pepper to taste (I used about 1/3 t-spoon – could take more), and 2 heaped tablespoons of Leggo’s sundried tomato and roasted garlic mix, (smallish square bottle) … all about 5 mins before serving.   Cover and simmer some more.

Cook 400 g. spaghetti with a dollop of oil in the water to keep strands separate.

While it’s cooking, fry the seafood in a little olive oil.  You need about 200g per person.  I use Woolworth’s marinara mix, which is white fish, salmon, small prawns, calamari and mussels and add a few large prawns or whatever else I fancy.   (I cook each type separately, prawns and calamari for no more than a minute a side – probably less depending on size/thickness;   and place each lot in a small saucepan with lid, on stove top alongside, but not over, heat itself.  Salt lightly and stir through.)
Heat bowls if necessary.
Drain spaghetti into a colander, shake to remove excess water, return to pot (ensuring no water left in it) and immediately add extra virgin olive oil, tossing it through.
To serve:  pour sugo over spaghetti and mix through so it’s all well coated.   Place in serving bowls.   Add seafood, ensuring different  types are evenly distributed amongst the bowls, and gently lift the spaghetti through it a bit.   (If you add the seafood into the saucepan with spaghetti, it’s hard to ensure everyone gets a fair mix !)    
ps - more coastline & rocks in the video below.  Does anyone know why the rocks are blue? 

 

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