Seafood Pasta - a simple, quick, delicious lunch

There is something about seafood and pasta that marries together in a way that no two other ingredients can quite manage.  I have to admit that Spaghetti Vongole with its wonderful mixture of tender baby clams in their shells, white wine and liberal sprinklings of cheese is one of my all time favourite lunches. In the UK, however, it can be near impossible to get live baby clams, especially if like me you live right in the middle of England, and they are expensive. We have other ingredients, however, which we should not abandon. In this case, I am thinking of the humble cockle – a much-underused offering from our shores. So, here we go – my interpretation of a wonderful combination:

Ingredients

Put on a large pan of water to boil.

In a large frying pan or skillet (big as possible as it is good to have lots of space), put 3 or 4 tablespoons of good olive oil and bring to a medium heat. Throw in the chopped onion, garlic and sundried tomatoes and cook till the onion is just getting soft.

Add the scallops first as they need to be cooked properly. After a few minutes, add the other seafood.

Cook for about 5 minutes then add the parsley and the cream. Then add the cheese.

After about 2 minutes more, taste and season with lots of pepper and a little salt. Be careful, as this is made from cooked seafood, some may already be salted, to season and taste bit by bit.

Put the pasta in the water – if it is fresh it will only need a minute or two.

Into the seafood add the chopped fresh tomato and the spring onions – stir well, but gently.

Add the cooked pasta to the dish and mix well.

Serve with a nice crisp white wine!

This takes so little time to make, but it is fresh, delicious and screams summer. Enjoy,