This seafood pasta with buttery garlic sauce is a simple yet elegant dish that’s packed with flavor and ready in under 30 minutes. Featuring mussels, clams and sautéed samphire, it’s a satisfying dinner perfect for weeknights or special occasions.
Why you’ll love this seafood pasta recipe
If you love mussels, clams and the fresh taste of the sea, this seafood pasta with buttery garlic sauce is for you. It’s light, flavorful, and made extra special with the addition of samphire, a salty sea herb that perfectly complements seafood and adds a subtle briny bite.
I first tried samphire recently and was instantly hooked, it inspired this recipe! This pasta is simple yet elegant. It’s the kind of dish that feels like a treat: comforting yet light, packed with bold sea flavors and ready to impress.
Serve it with a glass of crisp white wine and a side of candles for a cozy, restaurant-worthy dinner at home.
Ingredients needed
- Seafood – I used mussels and clams, but shrimp/prawns, calamari or scallops are also good additions.
- Pasta – You can use casareccia, trofie, cavatelli, penne, fusilli, orecchiette or small shells.
- Samphire grass – If you can’t find it, swap for spinach or asparagus.
- Shallots
- Garlic
- Celery stalks
- Carrot
- Olive oil
- Dry white wine
- Vegetable broth
- Butter
- Parsley
- Lemon zest
- Red pepper flakes
- Black pepper
Can you reheat seafood pasta?
This seafood pasta is best enjoyed fresh, but if you have leftovers, you can reheat them. The easiest way is to gently warm the pasta in a pan over medium-low heat, adding a splash of water or broth to loosen the sauce. Reheat slowly and stir occasionally to avoid overcooking the seafood.
How to store seafood pasta
- I don’t recommend freezing seafood pasta.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 day.
Try these seafood recipes next
Seafood pasta with butter sauce
Ingredients
- 12 ounces pasta
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 shallots - thinly sliced
- 2 garlic cloves - minced
- 2 celery stalks - diced
- 1 carrot - peeled and diced
- ½ cup dry white wine
- 12 ounces mussels
- 1 cup low sodium vegetable broth
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter
- 10 ounces clams
- ½ tsp lemon zest
- 3 tbsp chopped parsley
- 3 ounces samphire grass - or spinach, asparagus
- 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- ½ tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Clean the mussels: discard cracked mussels or mussels that don’t close. Scrub them well under cold water and pull out the beards. Rinse the clams a couple of times in cold water.
- In a large pot, bring salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook until al dente according package directions.
- Rinse the samphire under cold water. In a skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil. Add shallot and garlic, saté for 2 minutes. Add samphire and black pepper, cook for 1 minute over a high heat. Set aside.
- In a large thick-bottomed pan, heat 1 tablespoon oil. Add 1 shallot and 1 garlic clove, celery and carrot. Saté for 2 minutes. Add white wine, simmer for 2 minutes. Add the broth and mussels. Cook for 3 minutes over a low heat. Add clams, butter, lemon zest and parsley. Simmer for 5 minutes more.
- Stir in samphire and red pepper flakes. Serve immediately, enjoy!
Nutrition
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