Bring a little taste of Sicily to your kitchen with this delicious seafood linguine. Packed with juicy prawns, tender squid, anchovies, capers and a hint of chilli, this dish is all about making the most of fresh seafood and simple ingredients.
The secret is in the sauce! Using the prawn heads and shells to create a rich, flavourful jus brings everything together, coating the linguine in a beautifully savoury seafood sauce.
Perfect for a special dinner or when you fancy something a little different from your usual pasta.
Ingredients
Makes 4 servings
1 whole squid
8 large raw prawns
50g capers, chopped
8 anchovy fillets, chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely diced
100ml white wine
1 tsp chilli flakes
4 tbsp light olive oil
400g dry linguine
250ml fish stock (or mussel stock, if available)
100ml water
Salt and black pepper, to season
Fresh parsley, to garnish (optional)
METHOD
Prepare the seafood
Clean the prawns and squid, making sure to reserve the prawn heads and shells for the sauce.
Roughly chop the prawns and squid into bite-sized pieces, taking care not to chop the prawns too finely. Set aside.
Make the prawn jus
Heat a little olive oil in a pan and fry the reserved prawn heads and shells with half of the diced garlic.
Add half of the white wine and 100ml of water, then leave to simmer for approximately 10 minutes. As the mixture cooks, gently press down on the prawn heads to release as much flavour as possible.
Pass everything through a fine sieve, retaining the liquid and discarding the shells.
Transfer the prawn jus to a clean pan and simmer rapidly until reduced to a thick, concentrated sauce.
Cook the linguine
Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil.
Add the linguine and cook for approximately 5 minutes, until partially cooked. The pasta will finish cooking in the seafood sauce, allowing it to absorb all those wonderful flavours.
Cook the seafood
Heat a little olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Add the chopped squid and fry for approximately 30 seconds. Stir in the remaining garlic and chilli flakes and cook for another minute.
Add the chopped anchovies, capers and remaining white wine, stirring everything together. Add the chopped prawns and cook for approximately 3 minutes, until the seafood is just cooked through.
Bring everything together
Add the reduced prawn jus to the pan, followed by the partially cooked linguine.
Gradually pour in the fish stock as needed, tossing everything together and allowing the pasta to finish cooking in the sauce.
Continue cooking until the linguine is tender and beautifully coated in the rich seafood sauce. Season with salt and black pepper to taste. Serve immediately, garnished with freshly chopped parsley if desired.
Tip: Don't throw away those prawn heads and shells! They're packed with flavour and make a wonderful base for your seafood sauce. Taking the extra time to create a prawn jus is what gives this dish its rich, restaurant-quality finish.