Recipe corner – Use-Yer-Mussels Spaghetti

Having burbled on about mussels in my last post, here (just for you, Peridot!) is my “recipe” for seafood spaghetti. I use inverted commas because it was more of a chucking together of various ingredients – the outcome, however, was extremely yummy. You could easily adapt this method to any kind of seafood – we happened to have some mussel meat in the freezer that needed using up and just supplemented it with a few prawns. If you were cooking the mussels from scratch, I’d be tempted to use the mussel cooking liquor to loosen the final sauce rather than the pasta water.

Oh, and 75g of spaghetti is a pretty generous portion – you could easily reduce it and thus the points (but I’m greedy!)

Ingredients

3 garlic cloves
3 anchovy fillets
Pinch chilli flakes
Coarse salt
2 tbsp olive oil
200g cherry tomatoes cut into quarters
150g spaghetti
50g mussels (meat only)
50g king prawns

Serves 2, 7 points per per portion

Put the garlic in a pestle and mortar with a decent pinch of salt and squish well. Add the anchovy fillets, patted dry (I used fillets packed in salt, so rinsed them off first, if you use the ones in oil you obviously won’t need to do this) and the chilli flakes – as much or as little as you like, and continue to work into a coarse paste.

Meanwhile, put the spaghetti on to cook in a pan of well salted water.

In a large pan gently heat up the olive oil. Tip in the coarse paste and cook – keep the heat low because you don’t want to burn your garlic. The anchovies will start to “melt” into the oil.

Now bung in the cherry tomatoes and, using the back of a spoon, lightly crush into the oil. Add the prawns and mussel meat and cook gently until the prawns turn pink.

Once the spaghetti is cooked (8-10 mins) drain, reserving some of the cooking liquid. Add the spaghetti to the pan and toss well in the tomatoes and oil, using the reserved water to loosen slightly (you’ll probably need a couple of tablespoons). Check the seasoning – you probably won’t want any salt what with all those anchovies, but you might find at this stage a bit more chilli would be just the thing – and serve.

Recipe corner - Smoked Salmon and Spring Onion Risotto

Ingredients

120g risotto rice
100g smoked salmon
Small bunch of spring onions
Tbsp olive oil
30g low fat cream cheese
Black pepper
Dill
Capers (opt - for garnish)
500ml vegetable, fish or chicken stock

Serves 2, 7 points per person, 10 pro points per person

In a large pan (I find risotto works best if you are working with a large surface area) heat the oil and then add the spring onions and cook until soft.

Tip in the rice and stir making sure it is coated in the oil.

Now, add the stock about a ladelful at a time. After each lot of stock is added, stir vigorously. Bash the grains about a bit - you want them to release their starch. I personally don't find that you need to be stirring absolutely constantly but do keep an eye on it. As the rice absorbs the stock, add more.

Once you are about three quarters of the way through the stock, add the smoked salmon, reserving a few strips for garnish. At this point check the seasoning; you probably won't need any salt but plenty of black pepper is a must.

Cook until the rice is soft and creamy but with a slight "bite" to it - you don't want to make mush! You may find you need a bit more stock for this.

Remove from the heat, cover the pan and leave to sit for about a minute. Finally, stir through the cream cheese and the dill and maybe add a bit more black pepper for luck.