Recipes: A delicious seafood spaghetti

Head chef at East Coast Restaurant, Andrea Bertazzol, shares his Spaghetti Harbour recipe.

Andrea has been a key ingredient for the success of East Coast Restaurant since it opened its doors in 2018

Originally from Biella in the northern Italian region of Piedmont, Andrea has over 20 years experience in the restaurant and hospitality industry, in Italy and Scotland.

Credit: Chris Watt

Andrea takes his cooking inspiration from the lakes, mountains and sea around the north o fItaly, as well as his mother’s traditional, home-cooked food that he remembers from his childhood.

Food from Andrea’s home region of Piedmont is heavily influenced by classic French and Swiss cuisine.

The slow cooking movement is also a big part of the food culture in this part of Italy, which has led Andrea to develop his passion for fresh, local, seasonal produce with big, bold, rich flavours.

Andrea is also king of the grill at East Coast, with his flair for barbecuing seafood, fish, steak and vegetables by flame.

In his role as head chef at East Coast, Andrea leads a kitchen of team of seven for lunch and dinner service from Wednesday to Monday.

East Coast is owned and operated by Carlo and Katia Crolla.

The Crolla family has been serving the local community for nearly 50 years. Styles may change, but great flavours, family heritage and warm, friendly service remain as important to Katia and Carlo today as they did 49 years ago.

• 100g mussels
• 100g clams
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1/2 red chilli , deseeded
• 1 handful of parsley , chopped
• 20ml white wine
• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 knob of butter

1. Clean the mussels and soak the clams in salted water for about 20 minutes. The clams will filter out any sand. After this process, let them rest for 10 minutes in unsalted water.
2. Cook the spaghetti in salted water for around 8-9 minutes depending on the pasta or until al dente.
3. In a large frying pan, heat up the oil, add the garlic and finely chopped chilli. Let them cook until soft, but be careful to not burn them. Add the mussels and clams. Turn up the heat and add the white wine.
4. At this point cover with a lid and give it a shake. It only takes 2-3 minutes for the mussels and the clams to cook. Take off from the heat and discard any mussels or clams that haven’t opened.
5. Use a spoon to remove the mussels and clams their shells (keep only a few whole, we’ll use them as garnish) and place them back in the pan.
6. Now the spaghetti should be almost ready to be drained. Reserve a cup of the cooking water.
7. Add the drained spaghetti and some of the cooking water to the sauce. Cook and sautée for 2-3 minutes. Let the pasta absorb all the sauce. During the last minute add a knob of butter and the chopped parsley. Keep stirring until a smooth and silky sauce is formed.
8. Serve using the few whole mussels and clams that we kept back as garnish on top of your spaghetti with a sprinkle of fresh chopped parsley. Buon appetito!