Seafood Pasta: Creamy Tomato Seafood Linguine

Check out my seafood pasta: linguine in a creamy tomato sauce with mussels, king prawns, scallops and squid. You can make it with any seafood you like or have at the time, and frozen works as well as fresh.

Half the prawns and scallops go into the sauce and the other half are seared golden for the top. The mussels are cooked on their own first, and their cooking water goes into the sauce, which is where a lot of the flavour comes from.

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Creamy Tomato Seafood Linguine

The sauce starts with onion, celery and carrot browned slowly with garlic, then white wine and the mussel water reduced by half, then tomatoes, all blended smooth. A small splash of double cream at the end makes it silky without hiding the seafood.

The seafood goes in last. Prawns, scallops and squid all cook in a few minutes and toughen if they simmer, so they only get two or three minutes in the sauce at the very end.

Equipment You’ll Need

Two pans and a pot, plus a stick blender for the sauce.

A Closer Look at the Ingredients

Here is what each part is doing in this recipe.

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• Mussels Bought live, cleaned just before cooking and steamed open in water. I pick the meat from the shells for the sauce and keep a few whole for the top. Their cooking water goes into the sauce, and it carries a lot of the flavour. Instead: Clams, cooked the same way.
• King prawns Raw and peeled. Half go into the sauce at the end and half are seared golden for the top. Prawns turn soft and woolly if they cook too long, which is why they go in last. Instead: Any raw prawns or shrimp.
• Scallops Pat them dry so they sear rather than steam. Scallops that have been soaked to keep them plump and white give off a lot of liquid in the pan, so dry, untreated ones brown better. Instead: More prawns.
• Squid rings Squid is tender when it is cooked for a very short time or for a very long time, and tough in between. Here it gets two or three minutes at the end. Instead: Leave it out and add more prawns.
• Mirepoix and garlic Onion, celery and carrot, finely diced and browned slowly with the garlic. It is the sweet base of the sauce before it gets blended. Instead: Onion and carrot alone if you have no celery.
• White wine Reduced with the mussel water to half, it adds acidity and depth to the sauce. Instead: Fish or vegetable stock.
• Chopped tomatoes and puree Blended smooth with the puree so the sauce clings to the linguine. Instead: Passata.
• Double cream Only 50 ml, enough to make the sauce silky without hiding the seafood. Double cream has enough fat to simmer in a tomato sauce without splitting. Instead: Whipping cream. Single cream may split.
• Linguine Flat, long pasta that holds a creamy sauce well. 300 g makes four portions. Instead: Spaghetti or tagliatelle.

Ingredient Substitutions

• Seafood: use any seafood you like or have, fresh or frozen. Clams, cod or salmon chunks and crab all work; keep the total about the same.
• White wine: fish or vegetable stock, or leave it out and use more of the mussel water.
• Double cream: whipping cream. Single cream may split in the tomato sauce.
• Linguine: spaghetti or tagliatelle.
• Chopped tomatoes: passata, which saves blending.
• Mirepoix: onion and carrot alone if you have no celery.

How to Check and Clean Mussels

Mussels have to be alive when they go into the pot. It only takes a few minutes to check and clean them.

• Check they are alive. Some mussels open slightly while they rest. Tap them or press them with your fingers: a live mussel tightens its muscle and closes. Throw away any that stay open, and any with a cracked or broken shell.
• Scrape the shells. Knock off any white crust on the shell with the blunt side of a knife, then scrub the shells with a steel scourer.
• Pull off the beard. The little hairy thread sticking out of the shell is what the mussel uses to hold on to rocks. Grab it and pull it towards the back of the shell to snap it off.
• Do it just before cooking. Clean them as close to cooking as you can, so they stay at their best.
• After cooking, throw away any mussels that stay shut.

How to Make Seafood Pasta, Step by Step

Full quantities are in the recipe card below. The steps here carry the reasoning and my tips, so you know what you are looking for at each stage.

1. Cook the Mussels. Bring the 400 ml of water to the boil in a medium pot, add the cleaned mussels, put the lid on and turn the heat down. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes until the shells open. Throw away any that stay shut. Keep the cooking water, pick the meat from the shells and keep a few whole for the top.Mussels are done the moment they open. Any longer and they shrink and go rubbery, so lift them out as soon as most are open.Gritty water: pour the cooking water off slowly and leave the last spoonful in the pot, where any sand settles.
2. Soften the Base. Heat 1 tbsp of the olive oil in a large deep frying pan and cook the mirepoix and sliced garlic on a medium heat until browned, about 10 minutes.Slow browning brings out the sweetness of the onion and carrot, and that sweetness balances the wine and tomato later.Garlic catching: if the garlic starts to go dark before the vegetables have coloured, turn the heat down a little.
3. Wine and Mussel Water. Pour in the wine and the mussel cooking water, turn up the heat and let it bubble until the liquid has reduced by half.The mussel water is full of flavour and salt, so it seasons the sauce as it reduces.Salt: taste before you add any. The mussel water is salty already.
4. Blend the Sauce. Add the tomato puree and chopped tomatoes and blend everything smooth with a stick blender. Season, then let it simmer gently for 15 minutes.Blending makes the sauce silky, so it coats every strand of linguine instead of sitting in lumps around it.Making ahead: the sauce can be made to this point the day before. Cool it, keep it in the fridge and warm it gently before you carry on.
5. Cook the Linguine. While the sauce simmers, cook the linguine in plenty of well salted water until al dente, then drain.The pasta finishes cooking in the sauce, so take it out when it still has a little bite.Pasta water: keep a cup of the cooking water. A splash loosens the sauce at the end if it gets too thick.
6. Sear the Topping. Heat the remaining olive oil in a frying pan on a high heat and fry half the prawns and half the scallops until golden, 1 to 2 minutes a side. Keep them warm under foil.A hot pan and dry seafood are what give the golden crust. Wet seafood steams in its own liquid instead of browning.Dry first: pat the prawns and scallops dry with kitchen paper just before they go in, especially if they were frozen.
7. Cream and Pasta. Stir the cream into the sauce, add the drained linguine and toss it over a low heat for 3 minutes so the pasta takes up some of the sauce.Here the pasta and sauce come together. The linguine soaks up some of the liquid and the sauce clings to it.Too thick: add a splash of the pasta water and toss again.
8. Seafood Last. Add the squid, the rest of the prawns and scallops and the mussel meat. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, tossing, until the prawns and scallops are firm, pearly and opaque.Seafood cooks in minutes and toughens if it simmers. Squid in particular is tender after a quick cook and turns rubbery if it goes on longer, so everything goes in at the very end.Frozen seafood: thaw it in the fridge overnight, or sealed in a bag in cold water, and dry it well before it goes in.
9. Serve. Finish with chopped parsley and black pepper, and top each plate with the seared prawns and scallops and a few whole mussels.The seared topping keeps its golden crust because it never went into the sauce.Keeping it hot: serve straight from the pan. If you need to wait, keep it warm on the hob and loosen it with a little pasta water just before serving.

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Recipe Card for Seafood Pasta

Recipe Card

Seafood Pasta: Creamy Tomato Seafood Linguine

Linguine in a smooth, creamy tomato sauce made with the mussel cooking water, with mussels, king prawns, scallops and squid. Half the prawns and scallops are seared golden for the top, and the seafood goes in at the end so it stays tender.

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Prep

20 min

Cook

40 min

Total

1 hr

Serves

4

Per serving

516 kcal

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4 portions

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Equipment I Use

Medium Pot with a LidLarge Deep Frying PanStick BlenderLarge PotTongs

Ingredients

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For the Seafood

250 g Mussels, live, cleaned and debearded just before cooking 100 g King Prawns, raw, peeled 100 g Scallops, patted dry 100 g Squid Rings 400 ml Water, for the mussels

For the Sauce

2 tbsp Olive Oil, divided 200 g Mirepoix, onion, celery and carrot, finely diced 5 Garlic Cloves, sliced 150 ml Dry White Wine 400 g Chopped Tomatoes, 1 tin 1 tbsp Tomato Puree 50 ml Double Cream, heavy cream in the US Salt and Black Pepper, to taste

To Finish

300 g Linguine Fresh Parsley, chopped, to garnish

Instructions

Tap a step to tick it off as you cook.

Seafood Pasta

1

Cook the Mussels

Bring the 400 ml of water to the boil in a medium pot, add the mussels, cover and lower the heat. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes until they open. Throw away any that stay shut. Keep the cooking water, pick the meat from the shells and keep a few whole for the top.

2

Soften the Base

Heat 1 tbsp of the olive oil in a large deep frying pan and cook the mirepoix and garlic on a medium heat until browned, about 10 minutes.

3

Wine and Mussel Water

Add the wine and the mussel cooking water, turn up the heat and reduce the liquid by half.

4

Blend the Sauce

Add the tomato puree and chopped tomatoes and blend until smooth with a stick blender. Season and simmer gently for 15 minutes.

5

Cook the Linguine

Cook the linguine in well salted water until al dente and drain.

6

Sear the Topping

Heat the remaining olive oil on a high heat and fry half the prawns and half the scallops until golden, 1 to 2 minutes a side. Keep warm under foil.

7

Cream and Pasta

Stir the cream into the sauce, add the linguine and toss over a low heat for 3 minutes so the pasta takes up some of the sauce.

8

Seafood Last

Add the squid, the rest of the prawns and scallops and the mussel meat. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes until the prawns and scallops are firm, pearly and opaque.

9

Serve

Finish with chopped parsley and black pepper, and top with the seared prawns and scallops and the whole mussels.

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Chef’s notes＋

• Check the mussels before cooking. Live ones close when you tap them; throw away any with cracked shells or that stay open.
• After cooking, throw away any mussels that stay shut.
• Frozen seafood works as well as fresh. Thaw it in the fridge overnight and pat it dry before searing.
• Double cream can simmer in the tomato sauce without splitting. Single cream may split.
• Best eaten the same day. If I keep it, it goes in the fridge for a day and I reheat it gently.

Nutrition per serving＋

516 kcalProtein 28.2 gCarbs 69.5 gFat 13.9 gSat fat 4.3 gFibre 5.6 gSugar 7.3 gSodium 407 mgServing 407 g

Seafood Pasta: Creamy Tomato Seafood Linguine · https://chefsbinge.com/seafood-pasta/

Check out my other Recipes:

Serving and Storing

Serve it straight from the pan with crusty bread for the sauce. If you like seafood, try my seafood spring rolls or my tom yum talay, and for another pasta, my Tuscan sausage pasta.

It is best eaten the same day. If I keep it, it goes in the fridge for a day and I reheat it gently. Do not leave cooked seafood out of the fridge for more than 2 hours.

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FAQ for Seafood Pasta

A Few Words from the Chef

Use whatever seafood you can get, fresh or frozen, and do not be scared of the mussels: check them, clean them and they take five minutes. The one thing I would say is put the seafood in at the very end. If you make it, tell me how it went in the comments. Smacznego!