Mussels And Shrimp With Prosciutto In Garlic Saffron Wine Sauce - cooking recipe

Ingredients

2 lbs fresh mussels
1 lb fresh shrimp
1/2 lb prosciutto ham, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, finely grated
5 tablespoons butter
1 cup white wine or 1 cup dry vermouth
2 tablespoons dry sherry
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
4 fresh basil leaves, chopped
salt & pepper
1 pinch saffron thread
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 cup half-and-half
1 large fresh tomato, chopped, remove all seeds
hot sauce

Preparation

Clean and scrub the fresh mussels in cold water, discard the open ones that after you tap them with a knife they would not close.
Add the butter to the pan and saute onions, garlic, procciutto ham and saffron threads For about 5-10 minutes at med temperature. Add 1 teaspoons of hot sauce.
Add the wine to the pot and mix well, then add the mussels with the parsley and basil (mix well) and tomatoes over; cook for 5 minutes at med-high temperature. Stir and remove open mussels (leave the closed ones in the pot for additional 1-2 minutes; if they do not open, discard them).
Add shrimp and cook for few minutes until pink; remove them also.
Make a roux with cornstarch and cream whisked slowly into the pot containing the wine mixture until it thickens up, test for salt and pepper and add the sherry to it; whisk well and return mussels and shrimp back to pot, heat up for about 5-10 minutes at medium to medium low temperature.
Serve with your choice of pasta (I prefer Linguini or Rigatoni).
*note.
This also can be served as is, with no pasta, just use less cornstarch in cream (not to thicken the sauce) and serve in a bowl with nice crusty bread.