fine dining experience

Quick seafood pasta

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

  • 300 g dried linguine
  • 250 g squid , gutted, cleaned, from sustainable sources
  • 250 g mussels , scrubbed, debearded, from sustainable sources
  • 250 g 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
  • 1 fresh red chilli , optional
  • olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon baby capers
  • 1 handful of samphire , optional
  • 1 x 400 g tin of quality plum tomatoes
  • 20 g Parmesan cheese
  • extra virgin olive oil

Directions

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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).
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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).
  7. Remove the pan from the heat and carefully pick the meat out of the shells, if you like.
  8. Grate in 20g of Parmesan, then taste and season to perfection, adding an extra squeeze of lemon juice, if needed.
  9. 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.