Ingredients

makes 6 servings

　　

For the Scungilli

1 1/2 pounds frozen scungilli, or 20 pieces fresh scungilli in their shells

　　3 bay leaves

　　

For the Marinara Sauce

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

　　6 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced

　　One 35-ounce can Italian plum tomatoes (preferably San Marzano) with their liquid, crushed

　　1 teaspoon crushed hot red pepper

　　2 bay leaves

　　1 teaspoon dried oregano, preferably the Sicilian or Greek type dried on the branch, crumbled

　　Salt

　　1 pound linguine

　　1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley

　　

Step 1

Cook and clean the scungilli as described on page 44, cooking them until almost but not quite tender, about 25 minutes. Reserve 2 cups of the cooking liquid and slice the scungilli thin.

　　

Step 2

Make the sauce: Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Scatter the garlic over the oil and cook, shaking the skillet, until golden, about 2 minutes. Add the scungilli and cook, turning the pieces continuously, until light golden, about 4 minutes. Season lightly with salt.

　　

Step 3

Pour the tomatoes into the skillet, and add the crushed red pepper, 2 bay leaves, and oregano. Bring to a vigorous boil, season lightly with salt, and boil 10 minutes. Lower the heat so the sauce is at a lively simmer and cook until the scungilli are tender, about 30 minutes. Add the reserved scungilli-cooking liquid a little at a time to keep the consistency more or less the same as the sauce cooks. The finished sauce should not be too watery.

　　

Step 4

While the sauce is simmering, bring 6 quarts of salted water to a boil in an 8-quart pot.

　　

Step 5

When the scungilli are tender, reduce the heat under the skillet to very low. Stir the linguine into the boiling water. Return to a boil, stirring frequently. Cook the pasta, semi-covered, stirring occasionally, until very al dente, about 5 minutes.

　　

Step 6

Drain the pasta, return it to the pot, and ladle in about three-quarters of the sauce. Add the parsley and bring the sauce and pasta to a boil, stirring to coat the pasta with sauce. Simmer, tossing until the pasta is done, about 2 minutes. Check the seasoning, adding salt and crushed red pepper if necessary. Serve the pasta immediately in warm bowls, spooning the remaining sauce over the pasta.

　　

Variation: Linguine con Frutta di Mare

Step 7

Prepare the marinara sauce as above, omitting the scungilli and simmering the sauce for a total of 20 minutes. Heat an additional 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat, add 2 cloves crushed garlic, and cook until lightly browned. Add 1/2 pound sea scallops, each cut into two equal rounds and patted dry. Cook, stirring, until lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Remove the scallops with a slotted spoon and add 1/2 pound of medium-size shelled shrimp, deveined and cut into 1/2-inch pieces. Cook until the shrimp are bright pink on all sides. Stir the scallops and shrimp into the sauce, simmer 3 minutes, and proceed as above.

　　From Lidia's Italian-American Kitchen by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich Copyright © 2001 by A La Carte Communications and Tutti a Tavola, LLC. Published by arrangement with Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of The Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC.Buy the full book from Amazon.