We're gonna make some seafood-stuffed shells
to go with the vodka sauce. (audience applauds)
For the vodka sauce, you start with an onion
and some garlic, and a combination of olive oil and butter.
Melt the butter into the oil.
When the butter foams, add the onion,
cook it low and slow until it's very soft and sweet.
You don't wanna brown the onions.
Then, we're going to add one cup of vodka.
I roll with Tito's.
And we're going to add in a little chili flake,
or I think even more palatable, a little chili paste.
This is Italian Calabrian chili paste.
I'm gonna put in a little spoonful of that.
Of course, we're going to put in a large can of tomatoes,
whole, crushed, or diced,
nice, sweet Italian tomatoes.
I'm gonna tear in a little basil,
and that's the sauce.
For the seafood, before we make our filling
with the ricotta, the parm, and the egg,
we have to cook and cool the seafood.
I have a few scallops cut into quarters, sea scallops.
I have a little handful of shrimp that I've chopped,
and I have, oh, about a half a pound
of lumped crab meat.
Okay, that's the roadmap of what I'm doing over here.
What do you got, honey?
So, I kinda used a lot of
the same ingredients you're using.
I've got vermouth, I've got vodka,
I've got basil.
What I did is, I muddled up some basil,
some lemon peel in here, fresh lemon peel, basil,
I muddled that up with my little muddler here.
I'm gonna add a little bit of olive brine
because it is a dirty martini. A dirty martini, right.
Then to that,
for each drink, I do about three-quarters of an ounce
of dry vermouth,
and for each drink, about an ounce and a half of vodka.
You can also use gin.
So now, we're going to,
I always stir a martini.
I guess the rule is, anything that's a clear drink.
(audience applauding) To the pan
with oil and butter again,
I am cooking off the shrimp and the scallops.
I'm adding thyme and I'm using dry vermouth,
too, because in Italian kitchens,
we think the dry vermouth,
which is just fortified white wine,
dry vermouth takes out the smell
of seafood in your house.
Add a little dry vermouth, let that cook out completely,
and then you're going to combine it with the crab.
Back here, I have some cooled, cooked seafood.
I'm gonna add that to ricotta cheese,
one egg, and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese,
and a little bit of nutmeg.
These are nice, big boys.
I'm gonna overstuff 16 shells
and I'm going to get ready to add our mascarpone
to our sauce, we'll meet you right back here
in a couple. (audience applauds)
(upbeat music)
Hey, everybody.
So, for the Valentine's meal this year,
I took a classic, a vodka cream sauce.
Instead of cream, I wanted to make it a little thicker
'cause we're going to set it underneath
and on top of giant stuffed shells.
Can I eat those right now?
Filled with seafood, they're not cooked yet, sweetheart.
Overstuff the shells, like, really. (gasps)
(audience laughing)
Need my drink stuff back, guys.
Now, that's a cocktail.
The seafood wanted to go for a little swim.
You couldn't do that if you tried.
The only way that could happen was by accident.
You're gonna have to make me another one
is the bottom line there.
Anyway, we have the overstuffed shells,
which I'll leave on the tray,
and I wanted a little bit thicker--
I'm gonna cover my drink, if you don't mind.
(audience laughs) A little bit thicker,
oh, honey, we are married,
we have to share and share like it's our drink now.
(audience applauds)
Okay, I wanted the sauce to be a little thicker,
so instead of heavy cream,
I added some mascarpone cheese.
Very creamy, very sweet,
a luxurious way to finish off our sauce.
It gives it this nice blush.
So, we're going to arrange our shells
in the dish and dot the top with a little more sauce
and sprinkle it with parm,
throw it into the oven.
I cook it covered to heat them through,
about 20 minutes.
Then, I take the top off
and let them brown up a little bit at the edges,
and the parm cheese that we put up on top.
So, mine will only have 15,
but I have another one in the oven
that has all 16 shells in it.
We'll show you what it looks like when we come back.
(audience applauds)
So, John actually has a tradition,
he only eats carbonara on Valentine's Day,
which is what I'll be making later,
but you can have a pasta appetizer
as well, honey. Pasta and pasta?
Yeah, I think that people will love this.
It's my old
you-won't-be-single-for-long vodka cream pasta sauce,
but instead of just spaghetti,
we have it (hums) underneath and over top
of these beautiful seafood-stuffed shells.
And stuffed shells are such a, like,
back-in-the-day-- Yeah, they're a classic.
A little sprinkle of parsley,
a little extra cheese for you 'cause I know you.
I'm cheesy. You're a very cheesy fella.
(audience applauding)