Seafood pasta with a light curry sauce
A good-quality mild curry powder is your friend. It adds a cheeky kick to this dish of prawn, scallop, squid and salmon pasta. Make your favourite pasta shapes or, if you’re short on time, just buy them.
Equipment and preparation: You will need a pasta machine and a pasta cutter attachment of your choice.
Ingredients
For the pasta
- 500g/1lb 2oz Italian ‘00’ pasta flour
- 3 free-range eggs
- 6 free-range egg yolks
- pinch salt
- semolina, for dusting
For the seafood
- 12 raw king prawns, in shell
- 1 salmon fillet, about 160g/5½oz, skinned
- 2 medium squid, cleaned, with tentacles
- olive oil, for cooking
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the sauce
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp mild curry powder
- 200ml/7fl oz white wine
- 400ml/14fl oz fish stock
- 600ml/20fl oz double cream
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- chopped parsley, to garnish
Method
For the pasta, place the flour, eggs and egg yolks into a food processor and pulse until well combined and the mixture comes together as a dough. Cut into quarters and cover in cling film. Place in the fridge to rest for 30 minutes.
Remove the pasta from the fridge and bring to room temperature. Pass the pasta through a pasta machine at its widest setting, according to manufacturer’s instructions.
Repeat this process, decreasing the roller setting down grade by grade with each pass until the dough is thin enough to pass through your chosen cutter.
Add your cutter to the pasta machine and pass the pasta through the machine to make your shape. Dust the pasta with a little semolina.
Repeat the process with the remaining dough, then place the shapes onto a plate. Use immediately or refrigerate overnight.
For the seafood, peel the prawns and slice lengthways with a sharp knife. Remove the black intestinal thread that runs along the back.
Cut the salmon into small bite-sized chunks. Cut open the squid pouches and score the inner surface lengthways with a sharp knife, being careful not to cut right through, then score again in the opposite direction. Cut into pieces, about 3cm/1¼in square. Refrigerate all the seafood until needed.
To make the sauce, heat the olive oil in a small pan, add the onion and fry gently, without colouring, until softened and translucent. Add the curry powder and cook, stirring, for 1-2 minutes.
Pour in the wine, bring to the boil and cook until the volume of liquid has reduced by about two-thirds.
Add the cream, bring back to the boil and simmer gently for 5-7 minutes, or until reduced and thickened to a sauce consistency; don’t let it get too thick. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
When ready to serve, bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Cook the pasta until al dente (about 1-1½ minutes). Drain and serve.
At the same time, to cook the seafood, heat a large frying pan and add a good drizzle of olive oil. Add the seafood and fry over a high heat for a minute, no more, until just cooked. Take the pan off the heat, add the sauce and toss to combine. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
Tip the pasta into a warmed serving dish or individual bowls. Pour over the seafood sauce, toss lightly and scatter over some chopped parsley. Serve immediately.