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Italian · Amalfi

Scialatielli ai Frutti di Mare

Scialatielli is a modern Campanian pasta shape invented in the 1960s-70s by Chef Enrico Cosentino of Amalfi—short, flat, irregular ribbons made from a dough enriched with milk, grated cheese (usually pecorino), and fresh basil, giving them a flavour complexity that factory-dried pasta cannot match. The name derives from the Neapolitan 'scialare' (to enjoy oneself), and their most iconic pairing—ai frutti di mare (with mixed seafood)—has become the signature dish of the Amalfi Coast restaurant scene. The dough combines semolina and tipo 00 flour with eggs, milk, grated pecorino, chopped fresh basil, and olive oil, creating a pasta that is simultaneously rich, herbed, and slightly tangy before any sauce touches it. The ribbons are cut irregularly—roughly 1cm wide and 10-15cm long—with ragged edges that catch and hold sauce. The frutti di mare sauce brings together the best of the local waters: vongole (clams), cozze (mussels), gamberi (prawns), calamari, and sometimes scampi or octopus, sautéed in olive oil with garlic and peperoncino, deglazed with white wine, and finished with cherry tomatoes and parsley. The marriage of the basil-infused pasta with the mixed seafood sauce creates a layered flavour experience: the cheese in the dough provides a subtle savouriness that amplifies the seafood's umami, while the basil adds a fresh, herbaceous thread that ties everything together. Scialatielli represent an important phenomenon in Italian pasta culture: the continued invention of new shapes and formats, proving that Italian pasta tradition is living and evolving rather than frozen in the past.

ServesFour portions
Sourced1of 17 in BC
Cook
I

The Market List

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For the dough
150 g
semolina flour
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
150 g
tipo 00 flour
Your own market
2
eggs
Your own market
80 ml
whole milk
Your own market
40 g
pecorino
finely grated
Your own market
15 g
fresh basil leaves
very finely chopped, almost to a paste
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1 tbsp
extra-virgin olive oil
Your own market
For the sauce
500 g
vongole (clams)
purged in salted water
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
500 g
cozze (mussels)
scrubbed and debearded
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
200 g
gamberi (prawns)
shell-on
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
200 g
calamari
cleaned and cut into rings
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
100 ml
dry white wine
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
200 g
cherry tomatoes
halved
Origin · ItalyBosa Foods · Vancouver →
3
garlic cloves
lightly crushed
Your own market
1
peperoncino
dried, crumbled
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
60 ml
extra-virgin olive oil
Your own market
15 g
flat-leaf parsley
roughly chopped
Your own market

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II

The Method

1
Combine the semolina and tipo 00 flours on a work surface or in a bowl. Add the eggs, milk, grated pecorino, basil paste, and olive oil. Work the mixture until a cohesive dough forms, then stop — the dough should be tender and just smooth, not elastic. Wrap and rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes. The dough is ready when it yields gently to a finger press without springing back.
2
Roll the rested dough to a thickness of roughly 3–4 mm. Cut into ribbons approximately 1 cm wide and 10–15 cm long. Irregular width and ragged edges are correct — uniformity is the error. Set the ribbons aside on a lightly floured surface.
3
Place the clams in a wide pan over high heat with a splash of white wine. Cover and cook until they open, 2–3 minutes. Remove, strain and reserve all their liquor. Repeat separately with the mussels. Pick the meat from both shells, reserving a few in shell for presentation. Discard any that have not opened. The liquor should smell of clean sea water with no trace of mud.
4
This is where the dish lives or dies. Warm the olive oil in a wide sauté pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and peperoncino and cook until the garlic is pale gold and fragrant — it must colour without burning. Add the calamari rings and toss for one minute. Add the gamberi and toss a further minute. Deglaze with the remaining white wine and reduce by half. Pour in the strained shellfish liquor and add the cherry tomatoes. Let the sauce simmer until the tomatoes just soften and the liquor concentrates into a light, cohesive broth. Add the reserved clam and mussel meat, stir once, and remove from the heat. The sauce should smell of the sea, garlic, and wine in equal measure.
5
Cook the scialatielli in well-salted boiling water for 2–3 minutes maximum. The pasta is ready when it rises, loses its raw-flour opacity, and offers the slightest resistance at the centre when bitten.
6
Lift the pasta directly into the sauce pan using tongs or a spider. Toss over low heat for 30 seconds, adding a spoonful of pasta water if the sauce tightens. Scatter the parsley, toss once more, and serve immediately. The finished plate should glisten with emulsified cooking liquor — no cream, no excess liquid pooling beneath.
From the canon — Pasta cooking water contains dissolved starch (released from the pasta surface during boiling) at a concentration that increases with pasta-to-water ratio an… Pasta Water: Starch Concentration and Sauce Binding →
III

Quality Hierarchy

01
Reserve — Vongole veraci from Campanian or Adriatic waters opened to order; wild gamberi rossi; calamari from the day's catch; estate-pressed Campanian extra-virgin olive oil; aged pecorino romano finely grated to order.
02
Estate — Live farmed clams and mussels; fresh whole prawns; market calamari cleaned on the day; a good southern-Italian extra-virgin olive oil; young pecorino sardo.
03
Market — Supermarket live mussels and clams; raw shell-on prawns; fresh cleaned calamari tubes; a reliable commercial extra-virgin; standard pecorino romano.
04
House — Frozen seafood mix, thoroughly thawed and drained; frozen peeled prawns; commercial extra-virgin oil; pre-grated pecorino. The dough enrichments retain their character — the sauce will be flatter but the pasta itself remains the distinguishing element.
IV

Sensory Tests

◇Touch. Rested dough yields to a finger press without elastic rebound — it is tender, not taut.
◇Sight. Pasta ribbons are opaque and irregular; ragged edges confirm correct rustic cutting.
◇Smell. Strained shellfish liquor smells of clean sea water — no trace of ammonia or mud.
◇Smell. The finished sauce smells of sea, garlic, and white wine in equal measure, with the basil of the pasta coming through as the dish is plated.
◇Sight. The plated dish glistens with emulsified liquor; no cream film, no watery pool beneath the pasta.
◇Where it lives or dies. The dish lives or dies in the sauté pan: garlic that burns, seafood that overcooks, or shellfish liquor that is discarded rather than reduced into the broth will collapse both the flavour and the logic of the dish.
Pillar V
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The dishes this one teaches you, across the cuisines — on every recipe.
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VI

What to Pour

The pairing
Bisol Cartizze Dry
Bisol · Prosecco DOC / DOCG
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
Sparkling wine
From British Columbia
Fort Berens Riesling
Fort Berens Estate Winery · Lillooet
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
Wine
Without alcohol
GT's Synergy Organic Kombucha — Gingerade
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
Non-alcoholic

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The whole pairing
Pillar VII
Origin and lineage are part of membership.
Where the dish comes from and how it came to be — on every recipe.
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Sourced through Provenance

The hands behind the plate.

Bosa Foods
Vancouver · cherry tomatoes
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