Brrr, it’s getting chilly here now, so when it’s chilly, reach for the chilli. Terribly sorry, that was appalling.

I like to have a couple of packets of mixed seafood in the freezer so I can whip up a meal like this one. It’s flavoursome, fiery and intensely tomatoed. Yum. Easy and quick too, which can’t be a bad thing.

Finely chop a small onion and fry that in a tbsp olive oil. Once it is translucent, add 2 cloves crushed garlic and fry for a further 5-10 mins.

Add 1/4 tsp crushed chillis, 1 tsp oregano, 1/2 tsp instant chicken stock, 1 tsp tomato puree and 400g (14oz) tinned tomatoes or crushed tomatoes

Cook that for another 10 mins, then add about 1/2 cup cold water

Continue to cook for about another 10 mins – enough time to get the pasta cooking, anyhow

Once the pasta is nearly done, add 250g mixed seafood to the thick, paste-like sauce. Use whatever seafood you fancy – it’ll make no odds

If the sauce is too thick, add another 1/2 cup water to loosen it. Check the seasoning. I always used to add sugar to tomato sauces to counteract the bitterness that can lurk at the back, but then I read a snippet of something Heston Blumenthal said and was amazed. The thing to add isn’t sugar, it’s salt! He’s right too. Go carefully, but if it is a bit bitter, consider reaching for a pinch or two of salt. Black pepper is a must, for me.

Once the seafood is heated through, either add your drained pasta to the frying pan and mix it in there, or plate the pasta up and nestle your tomato seafood sauce on top.

Dig in!

———–

Chilli Seafood Pasta

PRINT THIS RECIPE (opens in a new window)

1 small onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 tsp dried crushed chillis
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp instant chicken stock powder
400g (14oz) tinned tomatoes/crushed tomato/passata
1 tsp tomato puree
cold water (to thin sauce)
250g mixed seafood

pasta, to serve with it

In a frying pan, heat 1 tbsp oil.
Add the onion, cooking until translucent. Add the garlic and cook for a further 5-10 mins.
Add the chilli, oregano, chicken stock powder, tomato puree and tomatoes.
Cook for 10 mins.
Add 1/2 cup cold water and cook for another 10 mins whilst you cook the pasta.
Near the end of the pasta cooking time, add the seafood to the sauce and stir it in to heat it through. Add more water to thin the sauce if necessary.
Check seasoning and serve with the pasta.