Fruit of the Sea, Fruit of the Land

Whenever we go to an Italian restaurant you can be sure that I will gravitate towards the pasta that has shellfish and tomato in it.  Prawns, clams, langoustine, mussels, crab, cockles or lobster and wild (sea) horses couldn't keep me away.  It is one of my all time favourite combinations and perfect for the summertime with light, tart, sea-salt-fresh flavours.  For some reason I have never made it at home.

Until now.

This light dinner is divine.  It has an almost citrus overtone from the white wine that is mellowed out by the olive oil.  It's a bit like a mix of linguine vongole and linguine del mare.  If you are looking to impress, this dish will do the trick with very little effort from you.

You will need:

Punnet of cherry tomato's (halved)
Good quality olive oil
Dried Thyme
2 cloves garlic, finely sliced
Small handful fresh basil
1/2 cup white wine
Pack of raw king prawns (or tiger prawns)
Enough linguine for 2 people

First off, scatter the tomato's over a baking tray lined with baking paper, slosh a generous glug of olive oil over the top and scatter dried thyme and salt over them. 

Toss the whole lot so every segment of tomato is covered.  Roast in the oven at 180C for 30 minutes.

When the tomatoes are lightly roasted but still holding their shape, put the pasta onto boil and start to cook according to the packets instructions.  Make sure you keep some of the cooking liquor back as you will need it!

Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to a frying pan and on a very low heat start to gently heat the garlic.  You want to soften it but not brown it.  At the last minute add a large leaf of basil to the garlic and olive oil to lightly scent it.

Now add the tomatoes to the olive oil and garlic mix and turn the whole lot together. Add a little more basil and the wine, turn the heat up high and bubble the mixture away to reduce the wine down.

When the sauce thickens add one ladle of the pasta cooking liquor to the sauce and bubble away some more.  Taste it and see if it needs anything.  If it is a little sharp, add olive oil.  You may need to add some salt as well.

When the pasta is cooked add the prawns to the sauce and cook until pink.

Pour the linguine into the sauce and toss the whole lot together so that each strand of the linguine is lightly coated with the sauce.  Garnish and dig in!