Ren Behan - Author Wild Honey and Rye

Food Writer

Seafood

Fish is the Dish: Whole Wheat Penne with Prawns

It’s always a treat when staying near, or on the coast, to pop into a local fishmonger to pick up some of the freshest fish that you can get your hands on. We spent the second week of our Easter holidays staying near the Llyn Peninsula in North Wales. On our last day, we fancied picking up some fresh prawns from Llyn Seafoods for a simple supper. Had the spring weather been a little kinder, we would have most likely made some prawn skewers to throw on the barbecue. As it happens, it was a little rainy, so I made a big plate of whole wheat penne with prawns instead.

Penne with Prawns

This recipe is very adaptable – if you don’t like mushrooms, don’t add them. You can swap the courgette for peas, or perhaps some asparagus, which should be coming into season in the UK towards the end of April. I added a tiny hint of chilli, but you could add more heat and also some fresh cream; it was our last day, after all. We’ve also switched to whole wheat pasta over white pasta, but any pasta works fine in this dish. Prawns take just a minute or two to cook in a hot pan – don’t forget the garlic and a little lemon zest to pick up the flavours.

As part of the Fish is the Dish #HealthyHappyHearts campaign, we’ve been making an effort to eat at least two portions of fish a week. Adding a handful of king prawns to a dish, such as pasta, a stir-fry or even a risotto is a great way to add extra protein and omega-3 to your diet and they are a great standby for the freezer as they are quick to defrost.

Penne with Prawns

Here’s the recipe

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I’m adding this to Simple and in Season, as the prawns were fresh and in season – hosted here this month.

Don’t forget to join in!

Simple and in Season

With thanks to Fish is the Dish for a voucher towards our fish for the week as part of the #HealthyHappyHearts campaign. You can also find some of the Healthy Happy Hearts Menus here and follow @FishistheDish on Twitter for more tips.

How were your Easter holidays?

 

Fish is the Dish: Scottish Mussels with Linguine, Garlic and Dill

Keeping up with our aim of eating more fish this year, I am very pleased to be part of the Fish is the Dish campaign, who have set out to show families how easy it is to select, prepare and eat fish. As well as trying some smoked haddock for a quick and easy Kedgeree, I was also sent some beautiful pre-cooked Scottish mussels to try from the Scottish Shellfish Marketing Group. I have since made exactly the same dish again, buying pre-cooked Scottish Mussels in Garlic Butter Sauce from the supermarket  for £2.99. I also bought a packet of linguine pasta (on offer, 98p) and a packet of dill (79p) and so I was able to feed all four of us for less than £4.76 (there was dill and pasta leftover). So, this is my new ‘frugal but fancy’ supper and it is on the table in less than ten minutes. If you don’t like dill, try fresh parsley instead.

I admit, that I have never cooked mussels for the family before and I don’t think I would have necessarily thought to. So, trying pre-cooked mussels was a great way forward for me and an easy way to introduce them to the family.

I would have put money on the fact that the kids wouldn’t touch this, but I was wrong! They loved eating the garlicky-flavoured linguine and had fun poking around trying to pull the mussels out. Since Valentine’s Day is not so far away, I also think this dish would make a lovely romantic first course.

Fishy Facts

Mussels are rich in Omega-3, Vitamin B12, Selenium and Iodine. They are a good source of Iron, Folic Acid, Zinc & Vitamin B2. They are also high in protein and low in fat.

Mussels are sustainable

Mussels contain over nine times more B12 than beef, and nearly five times more than salmon.

Mussels are available all year round but they are at their best from October through to March.

(Source: Fish is the Dish website – Mussels)

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Pop over to the Fish is the Dish website for more Fish ‘n’ Tips on buying, preparing, cooking and serving fish. You can also get more fishy facts and recipes by ‘Liking’ Fish is the Dish on Facebook or by following the Fish is the Dish team on Twitter.

Fish is the Dish -Top fish tips for all the family

I’m also linking this up to Helen’s Frugal Food Fridays over at Fuss Free Flavours, since this would feed two people comfortably  for less than £2.50 a head, which I think is pretty good.

Frugal Food Fridays

Thank You to Fish is the Dish and The Scottish Shellfish Marketing Group for the mussels.

Have you ever cooked/eaten mussels? Would you try fresh mussels or have you enjoyed pre-cooked mussels before?

 

Pantry Paella with Veg Box Runner Beans (Nigella)

This is my entry to the monthly blogging event over at Maison Cupcake called Forever Nigella, this month hosted by Kat at Housewife Confidential. The theme is ‘Sea Fish and Eat It,’ which promted me to have a scour through NIgella’s books to find a fishy recipe.

We are not huge ‘paella’ fans in our family, if I am making a rice dish I would be more likely to go for a risotto. However, as it happens, I did have a bag of mixed seafood in the freezer and all the ingredients to hand to make Nigella’s ‘Pantry Paella’ so I gave it a whirl.
It is actually easier to make than a risotto as you don’t have to stand around stirring it as much.
For the kids, I confess to taking a bit out shortly before throwing the seafood in and giving it to them sans seafood as they are not really into mussles, prawns and squid just yet – though they do love fish. I also added a touch of cream to the ‘little people’ version as I felt the flavour given by the saffron may have been a little too strong for them (I think I had put a bit too much in!) and threw in some lovely runner beans I found in my veg box.
The recipes can be found either in Nigella’s book ‘Kitchen’ or here at BBC Food.
I agree with Nigella that this is a great ‘store-cupboard standby’ recipe and it would be easy to make for a get-together or a family supper.

Pink Pasta – Linguine with Salmon, Prawns and Dill

This recipe is inspired by a baked salmon dish that my sister very often makes. We call her Mrs Pink, since she loves pink and lots of things in her house are pink. When she made this salmon dish for me once, I giggled because it was pink!

Whenever I make her baked salmon, I use any leftover sauce and salmon for the next day and make a pasta dish out of it. However, last night I skipped the baking part and just made it as a pasta dish, since I only had two fillets of salmon to use and wanted a quick supper. 

To make the baked salmon, you follow the same method up to step 6, pouring the sauce into a large baking dish and placing the salmon fillets inside the sauce (up to six for this quantity). Bake it in the oven for around 20 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius, or until all the salmon is cooked through.

Last night I poached my salmon fillets separately in a small frying pan with some milk. I kept the small amount of poaching liquid that was left in the pan and added it to the sauce for maximum flavour. It is also fine to use leftover poached salmon, or just a packet of flaked salmon. 

If I were making this for kids I would probably leave out the prawns, but since I had some in the freezer I threw some in.  I adore linguine pasta, cooked al dente, particularly with any fish sauce.  My kids also like farfalle, or bow tie pasta with this.

Lastly, you can chop up lots of fresh dill and stir it into the sauce or if you prefer, just serve it with a spring on top. At home now we call this dish ‘Pink Pasta’.

Pink Pasta with Salmon, Prawn and Dill
Inspired by my ‘pink’ sister

Ingredients
250g linguine pasta
1 or 2 tablespoons of olive or rapeseed oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
150g fresh mushrooms, sliced
30ml marsala wine (or use brandy or even white wine)
400g or a can/jar of tomato passata
150ml single cream (or use creme fraiche)
2 cooked/poached salmon fillets, flaked
200g fresh or frozen king prawns
A few springs of fresh dill

Method

1. Cook the linguine in a very large pan of boling, salted water, for one minute less than the packet instructions.
2. Poach your salmon (if it is not already cooked). I put the salmon fillets into a small pan and pour 150ml over the top and gently poach it with the lid on for around 5 minutes.
3. To make the sauce, add a tablespoon or two of oil to a separate frying pan and cooked your onions, on a gentle heat, until they start to soften.
4. Add the mushrooms to the frying pan and keep cooking.
5. Once the onions and mushrooms have softened, add the marsala/wine/brandy (or even just use vegetable stock) and boil until all the liquid has almost gone.
6. Add the tomato passata and leave it to cook for around 5 minutes on a low heat.
7. By this stage check the pasta is cooked and drain. I always save some of the water that the pasta has cooked in and to add into my sauce as it helps the sauce stick to the pasta.
8. Pour your cream into the sauce, add in your prawns, if using, and keep cooking the sauce on a low heat for a few minutes until the prawns are cooked. If your prawns are frozen they will need about six minutes and if the prawns were raw they will turn pink when cooked. Add in your cooked, flaked salmon pieces.
9.Pour the fish sauce into the large pan of drained pasta, add a few spoonfuls of pasta water, stir well until everything is coated. Add your chopped dill.

Eat and enjoy!

Since this is a pink dish, I am joining in, for the first time, with Meeta’s Monthly Mingle(from her blog What’s for lunch, Honey?) which is hosted this month by Sarah from Maison Cupcake. The theme is ‘Think Pink’, which is very appropriate for my sister! Thank you Sarah for hosting and to Meeta for the theme. It’s lovely to discover other blogs. This would be a great dish to entertain your friends with!