For Restaurant-Quality Seafood Pasta, Use This New England-Style Soup

Restaurant pasta tastes so good because the best chefs focus their efforts on making marinara and pesto from scratch and building roux-based sauces. Recreating these dishes at home can be tricky if you haven't got the time to work from the ground up. If you're craving a serving of restaurant-quality seafood pasta but haven't got the skills, a can of New England-style clam chowder can come to the rescue. This pre-made product makes the perfect low-effort shortcut when you want flavor without the fuss.

Clam chowder contains all the yummy elements you'd find in a seafood pasta dish. Featuring a thick and creamy sauce made with a roux and a dash of dairy, it has a complex oceanic flavor, courtesy of the clams, and a welcome brininess that sets it apart from other soups. It also makes an incredible base for seafood pasta because it has a concentrated flavor that can be employed in several culinary ways and customized with a few additions from the pantry or fridge. 

The creamy texture of clam chowder makes it perfect for clinging onto noodles, lending them a moreish velvety consistency. Plus, it can be cooked down to make it even richer or loosened up with broth to make soupier-style pastas. In our opinion, the New England brand with the best store-bought chowder is Bar Harbor if you don't know where to start.

For the quickest way to make seafood pasta, simply warm up your chowder in a skillet and toss in some cooked linguine to prepare a super-quick meal that's packed with comforting flavor (blend it first if you prefer a pasta sauce with a smoother consistency). Alternatively, pour the chowder into an aromatic base of sautéed onions and garlic to elevate its flavor with little extra effort. You could also add more seafood (like shrimp), scatter in some chili flakes for heat, or garnish with verdant herbs, such as flat leaf parsley, to brighten the brininess of the sauce. Meanwhile, adding a splash of vermouth to canned clam chowder imbues it with a herbaceous and spicy quality that complements the aroma and taste of seafood, like mussels and squid.

To produce a seafood-pasta dish with a slicker texture, add a pat of butter to the hot chowder. The butter will seamlessly melt into the soup, boosting its richness. For an umami-er flavor, combine your chowder with a dash of canned cream of mushroom soup. In fact, there are several canned soup hacks for pasta dishes that you could employ. For instance, try scattering over nutty and salty Parmesan for a super-savory vibe or spritzing in some lemon to cut through the creaminess of the chowder and lift those yummy seafood flavors even more.