Category: Recipe

Delicious Crab Linguine with Chilli Recipe

Crab linguine with chilli, seafood pasta recipes, seafood linguine recipe, crab pasta recipe, crab linguine recipe, 
Crab linguine with chilli

Unlike actual sea water, dishes that taste of the sea are amazing. There are many ways to infuse your food with the essence of the ocean, such as using stocks or anchovies, but for this sumptuous seafood pasta recipe the key is using the brown crab meat as well as the white.

While white crab meat gives you the expected fresh and delicate flavour, it’s the brown meat where all the seafood flavour is. You must, MUST, include it in this dish. It’s cheaper too.

This seafood pasta recipe has a generous amount of crab. It could probably stretch to twice the amount of servings (while doubling the other ingredients). But this way is the culinary crabilicious treat you deserve…

Crab Linguine with Chilli recipe

Serves 2

  • 200g linguine
  • olive oil
  • Glass dry white wine
  • Punnet of sweet cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered
  • 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 1 shallot, finely chopped
  • 1 red chilli, finely chopped
  • 1tsp fennel seeds
  • 1/2 lemon
  • 100g brown crabmeat
  • 100g white crabmeat
  • Small bunch of flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped

1. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over a medium-low heat and fry the shallot, garlic, chilli and fennel seeds for a couple of minutes.

2. Add the tomatoes, let them sizzle a little, the pour in the wine and cook for about 10-15 mins, then stir in the brown crabmeat.

3. While the tomatoes are sizzling, cook the pasta in salted water until al dente.

4. Drain the pasta, reserving a few spoonfuls of the slightly salted cooking water.

5. Stir pasta into sauce along with the white crabmeat, squeezed lemon, and parsley. Add the extra water if the dish seems a little dry.

6. Divide between 2 warmed pasta bowls and serve your crab linguine with chilli immediately.

Prawn Linguine With Chilli (aka Linguine ai Gamberi) Recipe

Prawn linguine with chilli, Linguine ai gamberi, seafood pasta recipes, seafood linguine recipe, prawn pasta recipe, shrimp pasta recipes,
This Linguine ai gambrel, aka shrimp or prawn linguine with chilli, is a sumptuous seafood delight.

Prawn Linguine With Chilli (aka Linguine ai Gamberi) is a glorious pasta dish.

Whether you call this crustacean a shrimp or a prawn, what we can all agree on is that you must – if at all possible – make a stock with the heads & shells.

I first had this seafood pasta dish on honeymoon on the Italian island of Ponza, a favourite Mediterranean getaway for Romans seeking respite from the capital’s summer inferno. Delicious Italian seafood dishes top the menus of eateries across the island.

What ensures that this seemingly simple dish evokes the sea is the rich prawn stock, layered with the other flavours, all unified at the end by finishing the linguine in the seafood sauce. For an extra sumptuous seafood pasta dish use butter as well as oil to make the stock, and add a glug of wine when simmering tomatoes. You could also sieve the tomatoes before cooking for a smoother texture.

I have been generous with the serving size. The depth of flavour is incredibly moreish, so you should make plenty. It’s also advisable to have some nice bread on standby. However full you may be, you will likely still feel an overwhelming need to mop up any excess sauce.

Prawn Linguine With Chilli (aka Linguine ai Gamberi) recipe

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS:

  • 500g linguine
  • 800g large raw prawns/shrimp, shelled & deveined (retain heads & shells for stock)
  • 1 shallot, finely chopped
  • 1-6 cloves garlic, finely chopped (adjust to taste)
  • 1-2 chillies, deseeded and finely chopped (adjust to taste)
  • 500g sweet cherry tomatoes, quartered
  • Stock (see below)
  • Juice & zest of 2 lemons
  • Large handful flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
  • Olive oil
  • Salt & pepper
  • Glass white wine (optional)

Stock

  • Olive oil
  • Prawn heads & shells
  • Large glass white wine
  • 250 ml water
  • Salt & pepper
  • 50g butter (optional)

METHOD:

  1. In a large saucepan on a medium heat, fry prawn heads & shells in generous glug of olive oil. When pink, add white wine. After a few minutes when alcohol has evaporated, add equal amount of water and simmer for approx 10 minutes. Crush heads & shells while cooking to release as much flavour as possible. Top up water if necessary, and season to taste. Strain and retain stock.
  2. In a large wide bottomed pan, fry shallot on a medium heat. After 5 minutes, add garlic & chilli and cook for a few more minutes. Add tomatoes and gently simmer for at least 15 minutes, gradually adding strained stock.
  3. Cook linguine in salted water (allegedly should be as salty as the Mediterranean) to about a minute or 2 less than packet instructions. If sauce gets too thick during pasta cooking, add some of the linguine water, tbsp at a time. Retain a cup of water before draining for same reason.
  4. Add prawns to sauce – for larger prawns cook for couple of minutes.
  5. Drain and stir in the linguine, add lemon zest, season to taste, and cook for further couple of minutes until pasta is al dente. Loosen sauce with some retained pasta water if necessary.
  6. Stir in lemon juice and remove from heat. Cover and leave for five minutes. Pasta will absorb even more flavour from the sauce, but without cooking further.
  7. Add parsley, and serve the sumptuous seafood pasta in warmed pasta bowls.

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Assistance in recreating this recipe came from Frankie Dettori’s Italian Family Cookbook, which surprisingly has loads of other great Italian recipes.


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Linguine with Clams and Cherry Tomatoes Recipe (Linguine con Vongole e Pomodorini)

Linguine con Vongole e Pomodorini, Linguine with clams and cherry tomatoes, seafood pasta, shellfish pasta, seafood linguine
Linguine con Vongole e Pomodorini (Linguine with clams and cherry tomatoes)

A slight twist on this Italian classic seafood pasta dish, cherry tomatoes add a dash of summer colour & flavour to the Linguine Vongole recipe.

I would like to say I first ate this Linguine with clams and cherry tomatoes while holidaying in Italy, but I’m pretty sure it was at Wellington Italian eatery Mari Luca.

While I’m no longer a Kiwi resident, my clam of choice is still the New Zealand Little Neck. It is the Iron Man of clams, with an armoured shell to rival Tony Stark’s, which gives the molluscs the best chance of withstanding the journey from sea to your saucepan intact. They taste great too.

Make sure you use the sweetest tomatoes you can find, so they complement the sweet & salty clams. You won’t need to chop them as they should break down just enough while cooking, but if you prefer you can give the skin a little slice before cooking – they’ll be reminiscent of a tomato that’s burst with ripeness.

While the butter adds a smooth richness to this sumptuous seafood pasta dish, the key to getting this linguine vongole recipe right is balancing the garlic, anchovy, shallot and chilli to enhance the delicious salty clam & sweet tomato combo. If in doubt, err on the side of caution. It would be a shame to overpower the clams – even Iron Clam cannot withstand a mass flavour assault.

Linguine with Clams and Cherry Tomatoes (Linguine con Vongole e Pomodosrini) Recipe

Serves 4-6

INGREDIENTS:

  • 500g linguine
  • 1kg fresh clams, washed & cleaned
  • 1 shallot, finely chopped
  • 2-3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 1-2 chillies, finely chopped
  • 250g very sweet cherry tomatoes
  • 1-2 anchovy fillets, chopped
  • Large handful flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
  • Olive oil
  • Large glass white wine
  • 50g butter
  • Salt

METHOD:

  1. In large pan, cook linguine in salted water. It needs to be al dente, so about a minute or so less than packet instructions.
  1. At the same time, in a larger pan on a medium heat, fry the shallot, garlic, chilli, tomatoes, and anchovy in generous glug of olive oil. After a couple minutes add a splash of wine and cook a further 5 or so mins.
  1. Add the clams and the rest of the wine. Cover pan with a tight fitting lid and cook for about 2-3 mins, or until all the clams have opened. Give the pan a good shake – it’ll help the clams open up and tear the tomato skins just enough.
  1. Drain the pasta, and toss into the clam mixture with the parsley and butter.*
  1. Return lid, turn off the heat, and leave everything to sit in the pan for a couple of minutes. The linguine will soak up lots of the delicious cooking liquor, without cooking any further itself.
  1. Serve in warmed pasta bowls, spooning over any remaining cooking liquor.

* You will have of course timed this to perfection, so that the clams and the linguine are ready at the same time to mix together. But if unsure about timings, it is much better to have the linguine ready before the clams. The pasta can sit a while and be heated up again with the clams, but vice versa would lead to the clams becoming tough and rubbery from overcooking.

Teriyaki Udon Noodles with Chilli and Egg Recipe

This is a quick, easy, and tasty brekkie or lunch.

If you want to give your child an early taste of chilli and some basic Asian flavours, this is always popular with our child.

No matter how chilli hot I make it, she still loves it. I last tried it with a whole Scotch Bonnet (ultra hot chilli), and her reaction was “more”.

It was hotter than I would’ve eaten even a decade ago, let alone when I was a toddler.

Kids today eh?

Serves 1 adult

INGREDIENTS:

  • Udon noodles (or similar), cooked.
  • 1-2 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 10ml soy sauce
  • 10ml sake
  • 10ml mirin
  • Ground ginger
  • 1tsp sugar
  • 1 hot chilli
  • 1 egg
  • Vegetable oil

METHOD:

  1. In pan on medium heat with a little oil, fry garlic, chilli, and ginger for a couple of minutes.
  1. Add Soy, Sake, and Mirin. Let it bubble for a minute then add sugar. Cook for another couple of minutes.
  1. Add the cooked noodles, preferably ones you made earlier or the straight to wok type would be ok. Cook another couple of minutes. You’ll probably need to add a little water as sauce will harden as sugar caramelises.
  1. Turn up the heat. When really sizzling, crack the egg in the middle. Let it cook for a few moments, then rapidly stir through. Sauce will thicken with some solid bits of egg. Serve immediately.

RECIPE: Mushrooms on Toast

Mushrooms on Toast
Mushrooms on Toast

This quick and simple meal idea is deceptively delicious.

You can find this as a brunch item in most New Zealand cafes, and it was a favoured meal of mine when I lived there (as was the equally delicious Mince on toast). This ‘mushies on toast’ recipe is courtesy of Kiwi food blogger Delaney Mes.

Make sure you don’t over reduce this, as the bread mops up the moreish mushroom sauce a treat.

Serves 2

Ingredients

  • 500g Mushrooms of choice
  • Sprig of Thyme, chopped
  • Sprig of Rosemary, chopped
  • 1 tbsp cream
  • Splash of Balsamic Vineagar
  • Butter
  • Handful parsley, torn/chopped
  • 2-4 slices of Granary bread
  • Salt & pepper

Method

1. Melt some butter on a medium heat. Fry mushrooms with garlic, thyme, and rosemary.

2. Season with salt & pepper.

3. After a few minutes, add a tbsp cream, reduce a little, then a splash of balsamic.

4. When the sauce has thickened up, serve on slices of toasted & buttered granary bread, topped with chopped parsley.