This was a special place for my girlfriend (now my wife ) and I through our late high
school years, and up until the time it closed.  There is a new Grotta Azzurra on Mulberry St. and Broome St. in NYC's Little
Italy (i'm feeling very nostalgic for the Little Italy of my past these days...don't ask why...I don't know myself)in the same building
but the new restaurant has a different menu, is ground level, not below the ground.  Under that sign you walked down into
a basement space that was full of those colorful murals of the Bay of Naples, the Isle of Capri, the Blue Grotto, Vesuvius.
Through a little window you caught a glimpse of the frenzied kitchen, a cacaphony of Napoletana dialect echoing noisily out
of the little space.  How did that little kitchen produce all that food, so quickly, and so good?  Maybe Mimmo il cammaliere
(the waiter) could tell us, but he was busy explaining the rapture of the saltimbocca, the decadence of the zabaglione, the
earthy crispness of the zucchini fritti, thin battered fried zucchini that came with a lemon to squeeze over them.  The pastas,
well, just perfect.  The food tasted so close to my maternal grandparents cooking, true Napoletana cuisine...pork chops
kissed with hot and sweet peppers, lots of garlic and olive oil...and possibly my favorite of them all, the Shrimp Fra
Diavolo.  This oft butchered dish of Neapolitan-American cuisine is simply a quick fried shrimp, with a hearty rich and
peppery sauce of tomatoes and garlic, touch of parsley, a little lemon...just perfect.  Usually the pasta of choice is a
linguine, that perfect foil for seafood.  In today's Italian kitchen you can use a multitude of pastas, but the first Italian
Immigrants who started cooking in NYC restaurants preferred linguine.  It worked in 1910, it works today.


Let's start with the sauce...1 can of San Marzanos, crushed well with your hands or in a processor, 1 can of
Imported tomato paste.  In a large saucepan, heat 2 tbs. extra virgin olive oil, 3 finely sliced cloves of garlic,
2 tbs. of red hot dried chili pepper flakes(or more, or less, your taste will be the judge, you can always make
something hotter, you can never take the fire of the pepper out) and let this saute' for about 3 minutes becoming
very fragrant.  Now add the tomato and 1/8 cup fresh chopped parsley, salt, and pepper.  Blend well.  Bring
to a boil. Then add 1 can of paste.  Blend well and simmer on low/medium for about 40 minutes.  Add the juice
of 1/2 a lemon and stir.  Taste the sauce for seasoning.  It should be hot, this is Fra Diavolo, or The Brother
Devil...get the pun? 

If you travel to Italy, meaning Southern Italy, you will probably not find a dish with this name. Like so many of
our Italian Rest. dishes, this was memories of the old country put together in a new land with a bounty of
available ingredients.  It gets me "arrabbiata"(angry) when people, foodies, critics, and the like dismiss this food
as non-authentic...it is as authentic as it gets...i may not have a designated region in Italy where it is cooked, but
it is not the Olive Garden (there I go again, bashing that place).  It is authentic Italian-American food, and when
made properly and with the care it was given when it was created, it sings with flavor and tradition. 

Now for the shrimp.  Peel and devein 2 lbs of 20-24 shrimp, fresh Florida Gulf if possible.  Clean and pat dry with
paper towels.
Dredge the shrimp in 1 cup of sifted flour seasoned with a little
sea salt and pepper.
  Let this sit for about 5 minutes.  In a heavy pan, heat about 1 1/2
inches of good vegetable oil till a cube of bread will sizzle and brown quickly.    In small batches, quickly fry the
shrimp, about 3 minutes per side, drain on paper towels.  This is wear they develop that real "Grotta Azzura"
flavor, the flour searing on to the shrimp...lightly seasoned...it's amazing.  Now toss some of the sauce with
a lb. of al dente linguine and arrange the shrimp around the pasta, spooning a little of the sauce over the
shrimp themselves.
  For a hotter sauce (this is how I really like it) add
a tbs. of Sriracha chili sauce to the Fra Diavolo sauce before you serve it.  It adds a searing flavorful heat
the final dish, but, I leave that up to you.  How often are you out with friends or family when they ask the server,
"It says spicy, but is it really hot?  I don't care for it too hot"...then why are you ordering a dish that is termed,
Fra Diavolo?  But, to be fair to those folks who ask that silly question, I offer the dish with or without the extra
addition of the Sriracha...but you should really add it....it puts the Diavolo in Diavolo.
 A squeeze of lemon, a glass of wine, or soda...followed
up by some fresh melon...a gorgeous and tasty dish....it's like the Grotta Azzurra of 1976 never left NYC!