Quick and easy pasta dish for a non-traditional Easter Sunday.
Easter Sunday has never been a big event in my family - we tend to be bigger on Christmas celebrations; nonetheless we tend to meet up for a nice family Sunday lunch with my grandma and as many uncles and aunties as we can manage.
With lockdown and self-isolation, this Easter has gone a little differently, but we have decided to coordinate a Skype Easter lunch with Italy. We spent over 3 hours eating, laughing and chatting - and drinking a fair bit. I did not quite have the time to dish out 3 to 4 courses like my wonder-mom did, but I opted for a quick and easy seafood linguine to match the sunny day we could see from the window.
Main-sized portion for 2
Ingredients:
- 200-220g of fresh linguine (could also use spaghetti or dry pasta)
- 1X pack of frozen mixed seafood (or fresh, depending on what you can get at the shop)
- 1X can of chopped tomatoes
- 8-10 plum tomatoes
- a handful of sea salt
- a few leaves of fresh basil
- a sprinkle of oregano
- garlic and chilli spice mix (or the fresh equivalent)
- a sprinkle of pepper
- some olive oil
Method:
Fill a pot with water and bring to the boil on a high heat.
Whilst the water is boiling prepare the sauce. Defrost the seafood mix if not already defrosted. Heat up a drizzle of oil in a large frying pan and add a good sprinkle of the garlic and chilli mix. This is something I brought with me from Italy, but you can just as easily mince up some garlic and roast it in the pan with some chilli flakes. How much chilli or spice mix you add will depend on how spicy you like your dish. Especially with the spice mix, I would stir on the side of caution - always better to add a little at the end then start with too much and make your dish too spicy to taste.
Once the oil is warm and you start to smell the spice, add the seafood mix. If you need a little more liquid or the seafood starts sticking to the pan, add a dash of water. Add the cherry tomatoes - we want the tomatoes to soften and the skin to slightly crack so even more lovely juice comes out.
Once your pot of water is boiling, add a handful of sea salt and the pasta.
Tip 1: remember that your fresh pasta will always require more grams per portion by comparison to dry pasta.
Tip 2: once you have added the salt, add the pasta within a very short period of time (or add them together); if you add the salt too early the water will continue to evaporate and you will be left with very salty water and very salty pasta as a consequence.
Fresh pasta will cook in about 3 minutes.
Whilst your pasta is cooking, keep and eye on your sauce and add the chopped tomatoes. Grind some pepper in the pan and add a sprinkle of oregano. Keep cooking on a medium to high heat and keep stirring.
Once the pasta is ready, drain it and add it straight into the pan where the sauce is cooking. Add any additional garlic and chilli mix and adjust for salt if needed. Coat the past in the sauce for a couple more minutes.
Serve on the plates adding a few basil leaves and a drizzle of olive oil.
Extra tips
Why not keep a couple of fresh herb pots in the kitchen? I currently have basil and parsley on my window sill and I find myself often reaching out to add them to dishes I am cooking.
This will not only push you to be more creative with fresh herbs, but also make your kitchen nice and bright for springtime.
Herbs are not high maintenance & inexpensive, and you only really need to water them a bit every other day or so (depending on how sunny the spot is and how dry and hot the atmosphere is).
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