This summer, which I mainly spent in Norfolk, was heaven. Apart from the weather. But we had lots of barbecues and ate a lot of lovely local seafood.
But one day at the fishmongers, while also buying local crab, I couldn’t resist the beautiful looking Scottish langoustines. And that night I turned them into this stunning pasta dish with wine, tomatoes, cream and of course lots of langoustine meat.
I was quite generous with three each; half of the meat went into the sauce and the other half I kept in their shells, covered with garlic and parsley butter and put under the grill before placing them on top of the silky pasta. It was creamy, buttery and pure heaven to eat.
If I had had more time I would have made a quick stock from the shells to use in the pasta sauce but it wasn’t actually needed. Instead I put them in the freezer and made langoustine soup a few days later using a quick stock, a splash of wine and cream. Delicious!
Creamy langoustine pasta with garlic butter langoustines on the shell, serves 2
6 langoustines
1/2 shallot, finely chopped
1 tbsp butter
100 g cherry tomatoes, washed and halved
a small pinch of sugar
3 tbsp dry white wine
150 ml cream
salt and pepper
250 g spaghetti
4 tbsp salted butter, softened
1 small garlic clove, finely chopped
1 small bunch of parsley, finely chopped
Start with the langoustines. Cut them all in half lengthways and get rid of the vein. Keep six halves in their shells but take the meat out of two of the claws, keep four as they are. Pick all the meat out of the remaining six half and cut into 1 cm pieces. Set aside.
Cook the pasta al dente according to the packet. Then start the sauce by placing a large frying pan on medium heat and add the butter. Cook the onions for a few minutes until soft and translucent. Add the cherry tomatoes and cook until soft. Add the wine and let it bubble away. Add sugar. Then add the cream and let it thicken slightly. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside.
Mix together the butter with garlic and parsley. Place the six langoustines halves shell on in an oven-proof dish. Spread with plenty of butter and place under a hot grill (250C) until bubbling and hot, it only takes a minute or two.
Heat up the sauce, add the langoustine meat, the drained pasta and a splash of pasta water and cook for a minute or so in the sauce while moving the pasta around the whole time. Once it is coating every strand of pasta in a satisfying manner, divide the pasta between two bowls. Add a sprinkle of salt and pepper, then place the shell on langoustine halves on top, three in each bowl. Add two claws to each bowl and serve.
Scandelights 