Seafood Pasta Recipe White Wine Sauce

This seafood pasta recipe with white wine sauce is one my favorite eat-anytime dishes. It is a savory and addicting garlicky white wine butter sauce tossed with spaghetti and fresh seafood. You can even use frozen shrimp or whatever you have on hand. The star is the white wine butter sauce.

This dish is made for the summer with the fresh seafood, but it’s also truly inviting in the winter when made with extra broth. It’s light and refreshing, and savory and addicting. I loved the fresh juicy shrimps bathing in the aromatic juice of the garlic-y white wine sauce. 

We first had a similar dish at an Italian restaurant in California, where I noticed the generous use of butter in the cream sauce. I was turned away until we had this dish in Italy years later and learned that this seafood pasta is meant to be bright, briny and just perfect. It leaves you feeling satisfied but not stuffed.

My version is the way the Italians do it, and I give the It’s very tasty but less greasy. I do this by using a good quality oil, no butter, with a splash more wine to intensify the flavor of the seafood. I also add some mushrooms and sausage to give the pasta more texture.

Which Pasta is best?

Spaghetti that has a rougher texture to absorb the sauce.

Angel hair pasta if you want more fine texture and surface area to soak up the flavors of the sauce.

What to eat with it?

Crusty bread

Wedges of lemon (not pictured here).

I add parmigiano reggiano cheese to give creaminess and saltiness to the recipe, which doesn’t need much because the clams have a salty brineness to themselves. I like to mix the cheese in so it melts into the pasta.

Which seafood to use?

You can use your favorite seafoods here: I like bay scallops, shrimp or littleneck clams. You can use one, or a combination of different protein sources.

Which Wine Should I Use?

My first choice is a dry white wine, like a Sauvignon Blanc. Secondly, I recommend Pinot Grigio. Any Italian dry white wines with a fruity undertone will work well. The white wine will cut through the natural richness of the clams while complementing their briny flavor.

If you prefer sweet wines, try to avoid the very sweet wines like Moscatos and Reislings, instead lean towards the semi-sweet wines.

White Wine Sauce

Garlic butter and white wine garlic sauce..

I use heavy cream to make the sauce more creamy, however, you can make it with a tablespoon of butter, fresh lemon juice, and some red pepper flakes.

The secret to the best white wine pasta?

The secret to the best tasting seafood pasta? Fresh seafood, al dente noodles, and starchy pasta water to create a creamy sauce that’s delicious to slurp up.

Modifications/Pairings

• Add mushrooms after the wine and clams to add an umami taste.
• Add more wine or butter to your liking.
• Add more parsley to your liking.
• Add more or less depending on your taste
• Instead of white wine?
• Non-Alcoholic: Use chicken broth or water in place of white wine in a 1:1 ratio.

Special equipment

Sauté pan: The tall straight walls of a sauté plan helps trap the heat in to encourage steaming of the clams to get them to cook, take in flavor, and open up.

Ingredients

• 8 oz uncooked spaghetti
• 1/4 cups olive oil
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms (I used baby bella and oyster mushrooms), optional
• 1 cup sliced tomatoes (I use Campari tomatoes)
• 1/4 cups chopped fresh Italian Parsley. Separate stem from leaves.
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon Dasida chicken bouillon with 1/2 cup water, optional
• 1 pound shrimp
• 2 sausage links, chopped, optional
• 1/2-1 cup white wine (I used a dry Sauvignon Blanc)
• 1 cup of fine grated parmesan cheese
• 1/2 lemon, halved. More if needed.
• Salt to taste

Directions

1. Prepare spaghetti in a pot of salted boiling water, 6-7 min. It should be al dente and not fully cooked. Drain the water and set aside pasta.
2. Heat olive oil and butter on low heat in a sauté pan.
3. When pan gets warm, test with a drop of water. It should sizzle lightly.
4. Add garlic, crushed red peppers, sauté for 1 minute to release the aroma. Add chopped stems of fresh Italian Parsley, sauté for 1 min.
5. Add mushrooms, sauté for 2 min.
6. Add tomatoes with their juice, sauté for 2 min. Add a pinch of salt, thoroughly mix ingredients. 
7. Add wine to deglaze pan, scrape the pan to make sure you get all the flavor off. Add optional Dasida bouillon and water.
8. Turn heat to med. When it gets hot enough, add shrimp and optional sausage, stir for 2 minutes.
9. Add spaghetti pasta. Add remainder of fresh Italian Parsley. Add 1/4 cup of parmesan, stir. Squeeze in lemon before serving.
10. Serve into 3 plates. Layer pasta, then clams, then sauce, then parmesan on top. Cut wedges of out of remaining lemon, serve to taste.

FAQs

When is the alcohol in the wine cooked out?

Cook wine for 20 to 30 seconds after adding wine to it to allow the alcohol to evaporate. Alcohol evaporates at 172 degrees Fahrenheit. Any sauce or stew that is simmering or boiling is hot enough to evaporate the alcohol.