Steal This Recipe® Seafood Spaghetti with a Salad on Top

Recipes
September 25, 2014

From Executive Chef Laurence Edelman of The Mermaid Inn, NYC

This tasty recipe was stolen from Laurence Edelman Executive Chef of the Mermaid Inn, in Upper Manhattan, NYC.

With a menu focused almost exclusively on fish and seafood, the Mermaid Inn restaurants excel at creating culinary aquatic delights, like the towering Lobster Sandwich and The Summer Shrimp Risotto with basil, cockles and lemon peel.

They also give back by donating 5% of their sales every Sunday night to Kiva.org, a non-profit microfinance organization that distributes loans to low-income entrepreneurs in developing countries.

About the chef: as a child, Laurence Edelman happily ate foods that strike fear in the hearts of some adults. His father indulged his son's eccentric cravings with blind tastings of escargot, raw oysters, pickled fish and caviar – atypical fare for the average kid in South Orange, New Jersey.

In New Orleans, Laurence took on his first kitchen position at the legendary Cooter Brown's, where he worked as a short-order cook and at the raw bar shucking oysters. He then moved to Boston and shifted into the fine dining realm, as a line cook in Harvard Square's highly popular UpStairs at the Pudding, then as a cook at the French bistro Sel de la Terre. Later, as the sous chef at Temple Bar, Laurence enjoyed creating daily specials.

In 2002, Laurence moved to New York City ready for greater challenges, honing his skills at various restaurants until he accepted the sous chef position at Jonathan Waxman's Barbuto. While there, he focused on fresh ingredients with a menu that changed daily according to the greenmarket, until he was offered the position of opening executive chef at The Mermaid Inn uptown. Laurence has adapted his fresh, seasonally-driven cooking style to a seafood-centric menu and incorporated flavors from his adventurous palate.

The Mermaid Inn
568 Amsterdam Ave 87/ 88 
NY, NY, 10024 
212.799.7400

Seafood Spaghetti with a Salad on Top is served at the Mermaid Inn for $25.00. 
This recipe makes 2 restaurant servings.

Seafood Spaghetti with a Salad on Top Ingredients: 
½ lb Spaghetti 
½ lb Fresh sea scallops (any size, cut into large chunks) 
16 Prince Edward Island or other mussels 
3 Cloves garlic, chopped 
½ Hot chili pepper, sliced (remove the seeds for a milder pasta) 
3 Scallions, sliced crosswise 
Julienned zest of ½ a lemon 
Juice of 1 lemon 
1 Small pinch of saffron threads (about ½ a teaspoon) 
6 Fl oz fish or clam broth 
1 Tablespoon butter 
Olive oil 
2 Cups arugula, packed loosely

Steal This Recipe® Step by Step Instructions: 
Drop the pasta into boiling, salted water. It should take about 10 minutes for the pasta to cook. While pasta is cooking, prepare the sauce. 
Heat the olive oil in sauté pan over medium heat. Add the garlic, chili, scallions, saffron threads & lemon zest. 
Cook until the garlic, scallions and chili are soft, (about one minute) then add the scallops and mussels. 
Turn the heat up to high and add 6 oz of liquid - use fish broth, clam broth, or use the salted water from the pasta pot. Cook until the mussels open - then add the butter and juice of half a lemon. 
Strain the pasta, reserving the pasta water as you may use this water to make any adjustments.
Add the pasta to the pan with the seafood. 
Finish cooking the pasta in the sauce and divide it into 2 warmed pasta bowls. 
Dress the arugula with olive oil, the fresh lemon juice from the other lemon half, and salt. 
Top off the pasta with this fresh salad and enjoy.