Summer in Australia means……..seafood!  It’s already well known that Australians opt in favour of seafood for their Christmas meal rather than the traditional turkey and pork and this obviously has a lot to do with our climate, being 30 deg C rather than 30 deg F at this time of year, and our love affair with crayfish, prawns, scallops, squid and mussels continues long after the decorations have been put away.

I had some beautiful local raw prawn meat and whole squid in the freezer leftover from Christmas and so decided to put together a seafood pasta dish to enjoy on a balmy January evening.  This recipe is a generous (aren’t they always!)  serving for two and uses spaghetti but you could use another type of pasta if you prefer.

Prawn & Squid Pasta

Spaghetti for two – cooked as per packet instructions

10-12 pieces of 21/25 Raw Prawn Meat

2-3 Whole Baby Squid cleaned and cut into rings (don’t throw the tentacles away – throw those in too!)

2-3 Garlic Cloves, finely chopped

Chilli Flakes to your taste – we like a nice heat through the sauce

50gm Tomato Paste

1/2 Cup of White Wine

EVOO

Salt & Pepper to taste

Italian Parsley, chopped

Put your pasta on to cook and heat the EVOO in a large frypan.  Add the garlic and chilli flakes and cook for 3-4 minutes making sure not to burn the garlic.  Add the white wine and after a minute, add the tomato paste and stir to make a sauce adding some pasta water if necessary to thin out a little.  Add the prawns and squid and cook until the prawns turn pink and then season to taste.

Drain the spaghetti and add to the frypan coating with the sauce and seafood.  Garnish with Italian Parsley, serve and enjoy!

A Pinot Grigio or Sauvignon Blanc is very enjoyable with this dish and if your preference is for a red then a Pinot Noir would be a good choice or why not try an Italian Montepulciano?