Fra diavolo, means “brother devil” in Italian, is the name given to a number of spicy sauces, usually tomato-based, used in American Italian cooking. Fra diavolo sauce is served simply over pasta but most are prepared with one or more types of shellfish. Coppola’s Restaurant has always served it featuring dishes like Calamari, Shrimp, clams, mussels and lobster Fra Diavolo.
Even though “Fra Diavolo” is referred to as a Mediterranean specialty, fra diavolo sauce popular in America’s thousands of Italian restaurants was actually developed in the US. While there are hot dishes called “devilled” or “alla diavolo” in other regions in Europe, there’s no similar tradition in southern Italian cooking. Italians are very fussy when it comes to their food so the robust spiciness of most fra diavolo sauces is enough to overpower many delicate shellfishes, especially lobster or scallops. My dad in keeping with the popularity of “Fra Diavolo” sauce in America was always careful on how spicy he made the sauce because it was important that his customers taste the wonderful fresh taste of the seafood.
Ingredients:
One 25 oz jar 825 MAIN Marinara Sauce
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/3 cup sherry or white wine
Procedure:
In a heavy large skillet add 1 jar of Marinara Sauce. Add crushed red pepper flakes and wine and simmer 15 minutes. Pour over your favorite cooked pasta. Add more crushed red pepper flakes if you would like it hotter. Seafood can be added to Fra Diavolo sauce by using the procedure for adding mussels and clams as described in the Mussels in Marinara Sauce and Zuppe di Clams Marinara recipes.
Prep time: 5 minutes
Serves 4