Cook one clove of garlic in a tablespoon of oil in a large enough pan/pot with a lid for the clams. Cook for a few minutes (about 3 to 4 minutes) until they start opening.Once the clams open up (take a peek) they might not be all opened use a dish towel to hold the pot on both ends and give it a vigorous shake just for a split second. This helps the clams open.
Now add the mussels into the clams pot and leave them with the lid on to steam and soften. After a minute or 2 turn the heat off and set the pot aside. Lid on.
Cooking The Prawns
Heat another pan with a tablespoon of oil and the butter and cook one clove of garlic till a light golden brown. Add the prawns, lid off and let them cook for a couple of minutes in the oil and butter. When the prawns are cooked they will go from frozen icy white to a bright pink then golden brown.Remove the prawns and set them aside in a plate. We need the pan with it's juices!
Remove the clams and mussels into a separate bowl and keep the water.
Cooking The Tomatoes
In the same pan of the prawns, add the last teaspoon of oil and cook the last fresh garlic clove on medium heat.
Carefully but confidently move the pan away from the heat and pour in the water from the clams. You're pouring water into the oil and garlic so please be careful not to burn. As long as the pan is off the stove and away from you, pour it in. Return the pan to the stove and cook the water on medium heat.
Add the chopped tomatoes and salt into the pan. Let it all cook for 10 minutes or until a thick sauce.
Cook The Pasta
Cook the pasta and remove from the heat 2 minutes before the package instructions. See more on notes.
When the pasta is cooked the tomato sauce should now be thicker so add the spaghetti to the tomato sauce and combine it.
Now add the clams, mussels and golden brown prawns!
Serve with fresh parsley and a fresh black pepper. Optional but necessary is a dipping of ciabatta bread into the marinara sauce!
Notes
Canned TomatoesAdd the tomatoes to a food processor and pulse to break them down into a smoother base. You can also cut them before hand into smaller bits or use crushed tomatoes but I find them a bit too watery and we don't want a watery sauce. MusselsThe mussels are already pre-cooked (because they are halved not whole) so we cook the clams first and then add the mussels to cook for a minute or 2 then turn the heat off and let them steam with the lid on. Cooking The PastaWhen you let the pasta finish cooking in the tomato sauce with some of the pasta water it gives you a much creamier, flavorful sauce that thickens and holds onto every strand of pasta!
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