Turn simple spaghetti into a divine dinner party meal with shellfish simmered in white wine, herbs and aromatics, plus radicchio for a burst of colour. Use your largest pot for cooking the pasta, the more salted water the better. Then toss everything together in the same pot. If you can’t find cockles, mussels will suffice.
SPAGHETTI WITH PRAWNS AND COCKLES RECIPE
Serves 4
¼ cup olive oil
3 large shallots, finely chopped
5 cloves garlic, crushed
1 long red chilli, seeds removed, sliced
1 cup white wine
300g large prawns
20 cockles, roughly
1 cup chopped Italian parsley
1 radicchio leaves
1 tsp smoked paprika flakes, or a sprinkle of smoked paprika
Salt and pepper to taste
300g good quality spaghetti
Italian parsley to garnish
- Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil with a dash of oil.
- Heat the ¼ cup oil in a frying pan. Add the shallots and garlic, cooking for 4 minutes until completely softened. Add the chilli and wine, bringing to a simmer. Add the cockles and prawns and cover the pan for 5 minutes, turning a couple of times until the cockles are open and prawns are pink. Stir through the chopped parsley, radicchio leaves and paprika flakes. Season with salt and pepper.
- Cook the spaghetti until al dente, drain and return to the large pot. Tip in the seafood mixture, combining well.
- Serve while hot with extra parsley leaves and an extra grind of freshly ground pepper.
