Wife-and-husband team Angie Rito and Scott Tacinelli of New York City's famed Don Angie restaurant are stopping by the TODAY kitchen to share some recipes from their newest seafood-centric venture, San Sabino. They show us how to prepare pasta with clams and yellow chilies and a zesty fresh crab and mortadella dip.
We love all versions of clam pasta, especially those with a kick. To add some heat here, we decided to use aji amarillo — a Peruvian chili variety with a beautiful yellow color and a punchy, floral flavor. We also love the flavor of the dish "clams oreganata" often found in NYC and its surrounding area, and we incorporate a lot of those flavors into this version of clam pasta — anchovies, white wine, plenty of garlic and oregano and, although it might seem sacrilegious, a bit of Parmigiano! The cilantro here pairs well with the aji amarillo and pulls everything together.
Angie grew up working in her family's Italian bakery and deli, and ingredients like mortadella played a big role in her young life. We love to find innovative ways to incorporate Italian salumi into our dishes. The garlic flavor along with warm spices like mace and black peppercorn in the mortadella remind us of the flavors of Old Bay seasoning, which goes perfectly with crab meat. And that's how this dish was born!
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