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Spaghetti with Tomato and Scampi

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Ingredients:
8 small–ish scampi (langoustines, red-claw or large prawns) with heads
(about 6–7 cm/2½ inches)
3 tablespoons olive oil
½ small white onion, finely chopped
250g (9 oz/1 cup) peeled tinned or chopped fresh tomatoes
A good pinch of peperoncino
1 tablespoon butter
1 bay leaf
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 heaped tablespoon chopped parsley
60ml (2oz/¼ cup) prosecco
160g (5½oz) thick spaghetti

 

Tips:
'In the restaurants of Venice, the scampi are sometimes served whole with the shells and heads intact,' says Tessa Kiros, author of Venezia: Food and Dreams. 'It certainly looks impressive, but can be difficult to eat, so you decide whether you want to peel them. I recommend seeking out small-ish scampi and keeping the heads on for flavour, but peel the bodies for easier eating. Some small scampi are quite easy to peel once they’ve been cooked, so they would be fine to serve with the shells intact.'

Directions:
1. Clean the scampi. Remove the shells from the bodies and devein (and remove the heads if you prefer), rinse and set aside.

2. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a pan and sauté the onion until completely softened, stirring often.

3. Add the tomatoes, a pinch of peperoncino and some salt.

4. Simmer, uncovered, for 10–15 minutes, squashing the tomatoes down with a wooden spoon occasionally, until the tomatoes melt and are free of lumps and you have a nice sauce. Keep warm.

5. Heat the butter and the last tablespoon of olive oil in a large non-stick frying pan. When hot, add the scampi and bay leaf and sauté over very high heat until the base of the scampi becomes golden and forms a bit of a crust.

6. Turn the scampi over, add a dash of salt, a pinch of peperoncino and then the garlic.

7. Now add the parsley. Finish cooking the scampi until you can smell the garlic and both sides of the scampi are just cooked, then pour in the prosecco (or white wine if you don’t have prosecco) and simmer rapidly until it has evaporated. The scampi meat must be soft but not overcooked.

8. Meanwhile, cook the pasta in boiling salted water until tender. Drain, reserving a dash of the cooking water in case it may be needed to loosen the sauce.

9. Add the spaghetti to the scampi pan & scrape the tomato into the pan
as well. Toss everything together as gently as possible, preferably by flicking the pan to coat all and not mash things up. Add some of the reserved pasta cooking water if it seems too dry. Serve at once, with black pepper.

For order your own copy of Venezia: Food and Dreams, click here. 

Words by Tessa Kiros, Monday 17 November 2008

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