Seafood Pasta Negra

Ingredients:

Seafood garnish:
2 tablespoons olive oil for sautéing
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
¼ cup green peas
1/4 large red bell pepper, sliced into long thin strips
15 pieces mussels, washed
1/3 cup rice wine
1 tablespoon patis
1/3 cup shrimp, peeled and chopped
2 large squid, skin removed and sliced into long strips
Pepper to taste

Shrimp broth:
2 cups shrimp heads, cooked
½ cup hot water

Black pasta:
2 tablespoons olive oil for sautéing
1/4 red onion, finely chopped
1/3 cup crabmeat, minced
1/8 teaspoon dried oregano
1/8 teaspoon dried thyme
6 teaspoons squid ink, diluted in 1 ½ cup water

Procedure:

Seafood garnish:
1. In a saucepan, saute garlic in olive oil. Add green peas and red bell pepper.
2. Mix in mussels then add rice wine and patis. Let it simmer until mussels open up.
3. Toss in shrimp and squid. Add pepper to taste. Stir fry in saucepan until tender. Set aside.

Shrimp broth:
1. Using a mortar and pestle, pound on the shrimp heads to extract meat and juices. Add hot water.
2. In a bowl, strain mixture to produce shrimp broth. Set aside.

Black pasta:
1. In a saucepan, saute onions in olive oil. Add crabmeat.
2. Add shrimp broth and bring sauce to a simmer.
3. Add dried oregano and thyme.
4. Mix in squid ink and allow sauce to reduce.
5. Add pasta and carefully mix until well incorporated.
6. In a plate, top black pasta with the seafood garnish.
Optional: For added flavor, sprinkle grated parmesan cheese, parsley, and squeeze a little lemon juice over the seafood pasta negra.