Oven-Baked Seafood Spaghetti (Spaghetti al Cartoccio)

How to make "spaghetti al cartoccio"—pasta that is boiled and sauced, then wrapped in parchment paper or foil and baked with a variety of seafood.

Ingredients

• 0.25 cup olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 0.5 fresh red chile pepper, seeded, thinly sliced
• 20 small squid, or calamari, optional
• 20 clams
• 16 mussels
• 16 prawns , or large shrimp
• 3 moderately ripe tomatoes, blanched, peeled, seeded, finely chopped
• 5 fresh basil leaves
• 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced
• 0.75 pound dried spaghetti
• Fine sea salt, to taste

Steps

1. Wash all the shellfish very well. Set a pot with 3 quarts of lightly salted water to boil over high heat.
2. In the meantime, pour the olive oil into a large skillet and add the garlic, the chile pepper, and the seafood. Cook over a low flame for 5 minutes, then add the chopped tomatoes, basil, and parsley. Simmer for 15 minutes.
3. Preheat your oven to 450 F (250 C).
4. Keep an eye on the pasta pot as the sauce simmers, and when the water boils add the pasta. Let it cook until half done (usually about 4 minutes), then drain it well in a colander and transfer it while it is still dripping to the skillet with the sauce.
5. Toss the pasta-and-sauce mixture by moving the skillet as you would if you were flipping an omelet. Roll out a long sheet of aluminum foil or parchment paper and fold up the sides to make a box-like container.
6. Transfer the pasta to the container, fold the aluminum foil or paper over it, and crimp the edges together to make a sealed pouch (you can also make individual pouches for your guests if you wish).
7. Bake in the oven for 5 minutes, at which point the pouch will have puffed up. Slide it onto a serving dish and open it at the table.