Ligurian Seafood Stew with a Basil Saffron Cream Sauce

Name: Ligurian Seafood Stew with a Basil Saffron Creme Sauce
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 2
Ingredients: 4 oz flounder (or fish of your choice); 4 oz shrimp (peeled and deveined); 4 oz Sea Scallops; 1/2 lb mussels; 1/4 lb jumbo lump or lump crabmeat; 1 bulb fennel sliced (sliced); 2 stalks celery (stew cut); 2 carrots (stew cut); 2 potatoes (stew cut); 4 cloves garlic; 1 onion (stew cut); 1 tbsp olive oil; sea salt and black pepper; 1 tbsp chopped basil; pinch of saffron threads; 1 cup heavy cream; 1 tbsp butter; 1 tbsp flour; 1/2 pound of linguine or spaghetti

January 10, 2012 by Chef Dennis Littley 29 Comments

My Ligurian seafood stew with pan seared scallops, shrimp, flounder, jumbo lump crab meat and roasted vegetables topped with a delicate basil saffron cream will wow your guests.

Try my restaurant-style dinner in your home this weekend.

Total Time: 40 minutes

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How to make Ligurian Seafood Stew.

For the seafood, I seared the scallops, and shrimp but broiled the flounder. I steamed the mussels with a little olive oil, and heated the jumbo lump crabmeat in butter so every item would retain its flavor!

The sauce started with the juices left from cooking the mussels. Adding basil and saffron seemed like a good choice to bring the flavors together.

I have to tell you, it’s hard to surprise myself with something I cooked, but this dish was incredible if I do say so myself, the only thing I would have changed would have been my choice of pasta, I used pappardelle, and a thinner noodle would have gone better with this dish.

If you’re looking for additional ways to get the most out of your seafood check out my Frutti de Mare, Bouillabaisse, and Paella!

If you’ve tried my Ligurian Seafood Stew or any other recipe on askchefdennis.com please don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know where you found it in the comments below, I love hearing from you! You can also FOLLOW ME on Instagram @chefdenniseats and @chefdennistravels, Twitter and Facebook.

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5 from 6 votes

Ligurian Seafood Stew with a Basil Saffron Creme Sauce

My Ligurian seafood stew with pan seared scallops, shrimp, flounder, jumbo lump crab meat and roasted vegetables topped with a delicate basil saffron cream will wow your guests.

Try my restaurant-style dinner in your home this weekend.

Prep Time15 mins

Cook Time25 mins

Total Time40 mins

Course: Entree

Cuisine: Italian, Italian - American

Keyword: Italian cuisine, Pasta, roasted vegetables, seafood, Stew

Servings:

Calories: 1413kcal

Ingredients

Seafood

4 oz flounder or fish of your choice
4 oz shrimp peeled and deveined
4 oz Sea Scallops
1/2 lb mussels
1/4 lb jumbo lump or lump crabmeat

Roasted Vegetables

1 bulb fennel sliced sliced
2 stalks celery stew cut
2 carrots stew cut
2 potatoes stew cut
4 cloves garlic
1 onion stew cut
1 tbsp olive oil
sea salt and black pepper

Basil -saffron cream sauce

1 tbsp chopped basil
pinch of saffron threads
1 cup heavy cream
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp flour
1/2 pound of linguine or spaghetti

Instructions

preheat oven to 350 degrees
Cook pasta al dente per instruction on box, then set aside

Roasted Vegetables

cut vegetables and place in roasting pan with olive oil, salt and pepper to taste and toss to coat with oil and seasonings
roast for 20-25 minutes

Seafood

place flounder on baking pan drizzle with olive oil, sea salt and pepper, add a little water to the pan and bake for 20 minutes
add mussels to saute pan with 2 tbsp of olive oil, cover with lid or another pan and allow to steam open (about 8 minutes)
let mussels cool then remove from shells and place in a bowl, and discard shells, but save the juices in the pan!
add heavy cream, 3/4 of the basil, and the saffron to the mussels juices, bring to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer, allow sauce to reduce by 1/3
get a saute pan very hot with a little oil and sear the scallops until you get some crusting for color, cook on each side and remove from pan.
Sear shrimp until almost done, remove from pan
In another saute pan, gently heat the crabmeat

Bring it all together

timing is everything with this dish, vegetables, and flounder should be done.
reheat pasta in a pan with a little olive oil or return to boiling water briefly, which ever method you prefer.
Place scallops, shrimp, and mussels in saute pan and reheat gently but quickly, in just a little oil or water.
take the butter and roll it in the flour to make a beurre manie and place in the sauce to finish thickening*

Assemble

Place pasta in a mound at the bottom of a bowl or center of a plate
place roasted vegetables around outside pasta
place flounder in center of pasta
pour sauce over flounder, splitting it evenly between the two dishes
place scallops and shrimp around the flounder
sprinkle with remaining basil and serve immediately!

Notes

*if sauce is too thick skip the flour and just add the butter, if its still too thick add additional cream or a little white wine or chicken stock.

Nutrition

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About Chef Dennis

Chef Dennis is a semi-retired Chef, writer/blogger, photographer, recipe developer and creator of A Culinary Journey with Chef Dennis aka Ask Chef Dennis®. Chef Dennis worked professionally in White Table Cloth Restaurants for 40 years and has been developing easy to make, restaurant-style recipes since 2009. The second phase of his reinvention from chef to blogger has earned him a place at the Worlds Dinner Table. Join him on his Culinary Journey enjoying his easy to make Restaurant Style recipes and travel adventures. For more details, check out his About page.

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