It’s not often we buy seafood in Colorado but when we do we do it big. On New Year’s Day we celebrated being home with my mom (who recently had a stroke) with a huge family feast of a traditional Roasted Seafood Choppino. I’d never made it before and found it incredibly fast and easy and was surprised how the flavors of the soup changed from beginning to end of the roasting with the crab and clam shells. Served with Lemon Parsley Linguine it was a feast for everyone from 1-74 years old.

Roasted Seafood Choppino
10 servings

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 large onion
6-8 large garlic cloves chopped or pressed
1 ½ dry white wine (or whatever you happen to have in a box!)
4 15oz cans chopped tomatoes in juice
2 cups water
4 cups bottled clam juice
4 bay leaves
½ cup chopped Italian parsley, chopped
½ teaspoon dried crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
Coarse salt and ground pepper
3 lbs Alaska Crab legs, cut into 2-3 inch sections
1-1 ½ lb shelled and de-veined shrimp
1-1 ½ lb clams in the shell

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a large ovenproof skillet or roasting pan (like what you might cook a turkey in) heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and sauté until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the wine, increase the heat and boil for 2 minutes. Add the clam juice, tomatoes with their juice, water, bay leaves, parsley and crushed peppers and bring to a boil. Season with coarse salt and pepper to taste (will taste a bit bland until roasting is over).

Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the crab, shrimp and clams and nestle them into the sauce. Transfer to the oven and roast 15-20 minutes until the clams are open, the shrimp is pink, and the crab is cooked through. Serve in a large bowl on a plate with crusty bread, Lemon-Parsley Linguine, and a nice Sauvignon Blanc.

Lemon Parsley Linguine
8 servings

1-pound linguine
¼ cup good olive oil
4 garlic cloves, pressed
2 teaspoons (packed) finely grated lemon pee
¼ cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Cook linguine in a large pot of salted water until al dente. Drain, reserving 2 cups of pasta cooking liquid.

Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic; sauté until golden, about one minute. Add grated lemon peel to skillet and cook 20 seconds then remove pan from heat.

Add the linguine to the skillet with garlic and lemon peel. Return to medium heat and stir in parsley. Add the lemon juice and 1 cup of cooking liquid; season with salt and pepper. Toss until heated through adding more cooking liquid as necessary to moisten if dry.