Thursday, 1 June 2006

Clint Eastwood's Spaghetti Western

Screen legend Clint gives us a taste of what life was like in his movies

Clint keeps it real like Ryan Phillippe at an awards ceremony in LA. The shades suit you better Clint.

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients

3tbsp vegetable oil
3 medium-size shallots (about 50g/2oz), chopped
1 medium-size rib celery (about 50g/2oz), chopped
1 small red bell pepper (about 50g/2oz), cored, seeded and thinly sliced
1 small yellow or green bell pepper (about 50g/2oz), cored, seeded and thinly sliced
2 large cloves garlic, crushed
1 14oz can whole tomatoes
50g/2oz tomato purée
120ml/4fl oz fish stock or bottled clam juice
1 bay leaf
1tsp anchovy paste
½ tsp saffron threads or ground turmeric
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
12 large mussels in shells, scrubbed and 'beards' removed
12 medium shrimps
1 packet frozen artichoke hearts, thawed and drained
4 large sea scallops, about 115g/4oz, quartered
120ml/4fl oz heavy cream
2tbsp Pernod, optional
225g/8oz spaghetti
1 small can clams, drained and chopped
Celery leaves (optional)

Method

1 Heat the oil over a medium heat in a large saucepan. Add the shallots, celery, peppers and garlic. Cook for about 10 mins, stirring frequently, until tender. Add the tomatoes with their liquid, tomato purée, fish stock, bay leaf, anchovy paste, saffron and salt and pepper. Bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Simmer, covered, for 10 mins.
2 Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, bring 1in water to the boil. Add the mussels in their shells. Cook uncovered for 4 mins until they open. Using a sharp knife, cut the mussels away from their shells. Reserve 12 half shells and discard the rest. Rinse the mussels under cold running water. Set aside.
3 Add the shrimps, artichoke hearts and scallops to the pan and increase the heat to medium-high. Cook for about 5 mins, stirring frequently, until the shrimps turn pink.
4 Meanwhile, in a large saucepan over high heat, bring 2ltr/2½pt water to the boil (8-10 mins). Stir in the cream and Pernod, if desired, into the mixture in the pan and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, covered, for 10 mins.
5 Meanwhile, add the spaghetti to boiling water and cook for 8-10 mins until tender, stirring frequently. At the end of cooking time, stir the clams and mussels into the mixture in the pan. Cook for about 1 min until heated through.
6 Drain the spaghetti well and divide among 4 large, flat serving bowls. Remove the shrimps, mussels and artichoke hearts from the sauce and set aside. Return the mussels to the reserved shells. Spoon the sauce over the spaghetti. Garnish each serving with one reserved shrimp, 3 mussels, 3 artichoke hearts and celery leaves if desired.

Recipe from Eat Like The Stars Cookbook (US$26.90 inc. p&p, The Magni Company). Visit www.magnico.com to buy your copy or order from www.amazon.co.uk, around £15.