Prawn and lobster pasta
This dairy-free prawn and lobster pasta rings in Summer. It uses a sweet cherry tomato passata, farmed in high summer on the coastal plains near Siracusa in Southern Sicily. We sourced the seafood from our local fishmonger and you can taste the difference in the final dish – quality shellfish will retain a creaminess even when cooked. This dish is equally delicious without the lobster, so feel free to omit it. Serve the pasta with an extra drizzle of chilli oil, some fennel fronds and a chilled glass of white wine.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon chilli oil
- 1 small fennel, cored and finely chopped (reserve the fronds to garnish)
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, sliced
- 1 teaspoon tomato paste
- 10 large King prawns, whole
- 250ml white wine
- 2 bay leaves
- Handful of fresh tarragon
- 330g SEGGIANO organic Sicilian cherry tomato salsa
- 500 ml fresh vegetable stock (or fish stock)
- 250g cherry tomatoes, halved
- 4-5 medium-sized ripe tomatoes, chopped
- Handful dry spaghetti
- 2 lobster tails
Directions
- Step 1 Heat the chilli oil over medium heat in a large non-stick pan. Add the fennel, onion and garlic and cook until translucent.
- Step 2 Peel and devein the prawns, reserving the heads and shells. Keep the peeled prawns in the fridge until ready to use. Turn up the heat to medium-high and add the tomato paste, prawn heads and prawn shells to the pan. Season and cook off for a few minutes.
- Step 3 Add the white wine, bay leaves and tarragon and cook until reduced by half.
- Step 4 Add the tomato passata and stock. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer until reduced by half (about 20-30 minutes).
- Step 5 Meanwhile add water and sea salt to two pots and bring to a rolling boil. One is for the spaghetti and the other for the lobster tails.
- Step 6 Once the bisque has reduced, take it off the heat and strain it through a fine strainer. You may need to push the liquid through with the back of a spoon.
- Step 7 Set the bisque aside and return the pan to the heat.
- Step 8 Add the cherry tomatoes and chopped tomatoes. Cook until the tomatoes soften and release their juices (about 5-10 minutes).
- Step 9 Add the bisque back to the pan, and cook over low heat for a few minutes.
- Step 10 Add the peeled prawns and cook until pink (about 3 minutes). Then remove from the heat.
- Step 11 Boil the spaghetti. Drain and rinse with cold water and add to the pan to coat the spaghetti in the sauce.
- Step 12 Boil the lobster tails (about 7 minutes). Drain and peel.
- Step 13 Serve the pasta with the lobster tail on top, a drizzle of chilli oil and the reserved fennel fronds.
“It’s not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the person who is in the arena. Whose face is marred with dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly … who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly….”
Theodore Roosevelt
This week a friend recommended Brene Brown’s Netflix documentary: The call to courage. The above quote changed her life and inspired the title of her book, Daring Greatly. If you have an hour watch this documentary. It will inspire you to chase joy in your life, experience it with gratitude and realise that vulnerability is “having the courage to show up when you can’t control the outcome.”
