Shellfish

Steamed, mashed, and puréed yams are the base for this silky soup, which is served with large poached prawns.

This is an ingenious one-pot dish where the pasta is cooked in the richly spiced broth, so there’s no need to boil it beforehand.

This rustic baked shrimp dish is almost prefab, thanks to overnight prep and quick, day-of cooking. Serve with plenty of bread for dipping.

Paella can be made with pretty much any ingredients, but it’s tough to top a shellfish paella made with a rich and intense stock.

Bean thread noodles absorb the bright, citrusy flavors of the dressing that’s made with lime juice, fish sauce, and Thai chiles in this Thai noodle salad recipe.

This homemade shrimp cocktail gets dressed up with classic cocktail sauce—plus two other optional sauces that'll really make it a party.

This New England clam chowder recipe gets its creamy consistency from half-and-half and smokiness from finely chopped bacon.

In this date-night meal, mussels and clams get tangled up in strands of nutty buckwheat noodles soaking in a briny, garlicky, and ever-so-slightly-spicy broth.

This dish of sautéed prawns and sweet corn has an abundance of flavor thanks to fresh ginger and Thai chile.

This is a very elegant sauce that is traditionally served with seafood-filled ravioli, but linguine with pink shrimp sauce is just as delicious.

This Mexican seafood cocktail gets its name because it is tossed with a bracing mix of tart, pungent, and spicy ingredients.

Dungeness crab is ideal, if you can get it, otherwise use any good, sweet-tasting, meaty crab in this crab linguine recipe from Giuliano Hazan.

Caldo de camarón is a classic cantina dish, offered two ways, on its own or with the vegetables and shrimp.

Chawanmushi, a Japanese savory, soupy custard, makes a wonderful first course, served either hot or cold.

Boiling shrimp with the shells on keeps them more tender, juicy, and flavorful.