Gurnard with parsley, garlic and sea and land spaghetti
This simple, aromatic pasta dish pairs gurnard with parsley, garlic, chilli, tomatoes and the seaweed known as sea spaghetti, which compliments regular spaghetti. I also make this with monkfish, sea bass and bream; it’s just a lovely way of cooking fish.
Ingredients
- 100g/3½oz fresh sea spaghetti (or approx. 30g/1oz dried sea spaghetti)
- 300g/10½oz dried spaghetti or linguine
- 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus extra to serve
- 500–600g/1lb 2oz–1lb 6oz gurnard fillets, cut into 2cm/¾in wide strips
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 medium-hot red Dutch chilli, finely chopped
- 4 plum tomatoes, chopped
- 20g/¾oz fresh flatleaf parsley, finely chopped
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
Bring 3.5 litres/6 pints water to the boil in a large pan with 2 tablespoons of salt. Add the sea spaghetti and blanch for 30–60 seconds, then use a slotted spoon to lift it out into a colander and immediately refresh under cold running water. (If using dried sea spaghetti, cook for about 15 minutes until al dente before lifting it into the colander.)
Add the spaghetti or linguine to the pan, bring back to the boil and cook until al dente. Drain the pasta well, combine with the sea spaghetti and tip into a large warmed serving bowl.
Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large frying pan. Fry the strips of gurnard for about 3 minutes. Turn them over, fry for 1 minute more, then season with salt and pepper.
Add the garlic and chilli to the frying pan and fry for 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes and fry for a further 30 seconds.
Tip everything into the bowl with the pasta, scraping up all the little bits that may have stuck to the bottom of the frying pan. Add 3 tablespoons of the parsley and gently mix everything together so that the fish just begins to break up. Serve immediately, drizzled with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkled with the remaining parsley.
Recipe Tips
Sea spaghetti is an edible seaweed that’s easy to identify if you are foraging; you can also buy it fresh or dried.
