Quick seafood pasta
Garlic, lemon & parsley
20 mins
Not Too Tricky
serves 4
About the recipe
You can’t beat a good seafood linguine and this one is super-quick and delicious. I’ve used cockles, mussels, squid and scallops here, but the principles are the same whether you keep it humble with white fish or make it posh with crab and lobster – just chop it all to size and cook it quickly for the most joyful expression of this dish.
Ingredients
300g dried linguine
250g squid, gutted, cleaned, from sustainable sources
250g mussels, scrubbed, debearded, from sustainable sources
250g cockles or clams, scrubbed, from sustainable sources
4 scallops with roe attached, from sustainable sources
1 clove of garlic
1 bunch of fresh flat-leaf parsley (30g)
1 lemon
optional: 1 fresh red chilli
olive oil
1 tablespoon baby capers
optional: 1 handful of samphire
1 x 400g tin of quality plum tomatoes
20g Parmesan cheese
extra virgin olive oil
Top Tip
Up for a change from linguine? Serve the sauce like a stew with polenta or couscous, or with toast for dunking.
Method
- Cook 300g of dried linguine in a large pan of boiling salted water according to the packet instructions, then drain, reserving a mugful of starchy water.
- Meanwhile, slice 250g of squid into 1cm rings, sort through 250g of mussels and 250g of cockles (or clams), giving any that aren’t tightly closed a tap. If they don’t close, discard them. Slice the 4 scallops.
- Peel and finely slice 1 clove of garlic, pick and finely chop 1 bunch of fresh flat-leaf parsley (30g), and finely grate the zest of ½ a lemon. Trim and finely chop 1 fresh red chilli (if using).
- Place a large non-stick pan on a medium-high heat with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add the garlic, chilli and 1 tablespoon of baby capers, cook for 1 minute, then add the clams and mussels. Cook for a couple of minutes, then add the squid, scallops, lemon zest and parsley, and give it a good stir.
- Scrunch in 1 x 400g tin of plum tomatoes through your clean hands, bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 2 minutes to let the flavours mingle, stirring regularly and breaking up the tomatoes.
- Stir in 1 handful of samphire (if using) and squeeze in the juice of ½ a lemon. Give the pan a jiggle and simmer for 1 minute more, or until perfectly cooked (discarding any shells that remain closed).
- Remove the pan from the heat and carefully pick the meat out of the shells, if you like.
- Grate in 20g of Parmesan, then taste and season to perfection, adding an extra squeeze of lemon juice, if needed.
- Toss the pasta into the sauce, loosening with a splash of pasta water, if needed, then finish with a kiss of extra virgin olive oil.
Give it a Moroccan-inspired twist, chucking in some olives and spices towards the end and serving with couscous.
Feel free to throw in a handful of seasonal greens or frozen peas for the last few minutes to up your veggies.
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