If there's anything that conjures the Mediterranean, it's the edible bounty plucked from its lush waters.Chef Ori Menashe of Downtown LA's Bestia, where he and wife Genevieve Gergis do a unique spin on Italian cuisine, knows this well.His recipe for mussels and clams in spicy tomato sauce is a little taste of the sea, just in case you can't hop a jet down to Italy tonight. It even dips its toe into North Africa with the addition of preserved lemon. (Which, by the way, you don't need to go DIY on. Buy some at a well-stocked market, along with the spreadable meat paste known as n'duja.)
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It sounds fancy as hell, but that's all ingredient talk. Sure, you need to find some lobster stock and fennel pollen, but then this dish comes together in a matter of minutes.Render your n'duja, sauté some garlic and shallots, and add some of the freshest shellfish you can source. Drown the whole mess in white wine and tomato sauce, and top it off with some fennel pollen and parsley.Eat it with some hunks of grilled rustic bread and pretend you're watching the waves lap on the shores of Palermo, even if you're in Pittsburgh.