Some things just plain remind you of summer. A long country walk through fields and woods to a little country pub for a pie and a pint (ok.. that was when I was back in England). BBQing lamb chops and sitting out on the deck. Lazing by the lake, watching the world go by. Light, gentle food that is full of flavor (and herbs!). This dish fits that last bill perfectly.
We had been hankering after some squid for a while, but just never got round to buying some. So, after a quick jaunt to the market for some squid, I now had to decide what to do with it. For me, squid works best either with Mediterranean flavors, or something further East. It can be fantastic with some ginger, cilantro, chili, fish sauce etc. Something about the summer however always leads me back to Europe. So, that was decided, some fresh herbs, some pasta, some olives and some roasted red peppers.
This dish really is pretty much ready in the time it takes to cook the pasta. It isn’t anything really fancy of course, but certainly hits the mark for a weeknight dinner. The seafood is grilled on the BBQ using skewers. Some roasted red peppers and some cucumber are chopped. Basil, flat leaf parsley and a tiny amount of mint are also chopped. Drain and rinse some olives. This is all tossed together with some orzo.
Seafood Pasta (serves 2)
6oz Orzo Pasta
6oz Shrimp
8 squid tubes, or mixture of tubes and tentacles
3 fire roasted red peppers, chopped
1 small handful of kalamata olives
3″ of cucumber, chopped
1 small handful of fresh basil (chopped)
1 small handful of fresh parsley (chopped)
4 or 5 mint leaves (chopped)
Really good olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Juice of half a fresh lemon
1 red chili pepper
Get the pasta cooking. It will most likely take about 10 minutes, but cook until just soft. If this is cooked before everything else is done, drain it and run cold water over it, to stop the cooking process. When it comes time to combine everything together, pour boiling water over the pasta to freshen. Start the BBQ going.
Put the shrimp onto a couple of skewers. If you skewer through the body section and the tail (skewer the same shrimp twice) then it will stop it from rotating on the skewer. Make sure the squid tubes are clean. Put under running cold water, and remove anything that looks black or grungy. Pat dry with paper towel. Put these on a skewer. The best way to do this is to skewer through the widest part of the body section twice. Then, put another skewer through the tail sections. This will hold it all flat on the grill. Coat the shrimp and squid in olive oil (just regular extra virgin is fine for this bit, nothing fancy!) and some salt and pepper.
Cut the stalk end off the chili pepper, and scrape out all of the seeds.
When the BBQ is really hot, add the shrimp on cook on one side for a couple of minutes. Throw the chili onto the BBQ. Turn the shrimp over, and add the squid to the BBQ. The squid will take about 1.5 minutes a side. Turn the chili over when you add the squid. Both are done when the meat is no longer translucent. Hopefully you should have some good sear marks on the seafood. Remove the seafood from the skewers. Using a sharp knife cut the tubes into rings, about 1/2 inch wide.
This is where you really should use your own judgment as to the amounts of each ingredient. Put all the seafood in a large bowl. Add in all of the chopped peppers. Add in all of the cucumber. Throw in half of your herbs. Add half of your pasta. Toss to combine. Look at the ratios of everything. You should be able to see quite a bit of herbs, but it shouldn’t be a bowl of green! Likewise with the pasta, you don’t want gallons of pasta, with just a few spots of everything else! Add more or the herbs and pasta if you need to. Throw in all of the olives. Add a couple of good glugs of the really good olive oil, and add half of the lemon juice. Season liberally with salt and pepper. Give it a taste. You should be able to taste all the individual components. If it seems a little dry, add a touch more oil. Not herby enough? Add more herbs!
Once you have it perfect, dish it up onto plates, and tuck in! This is great served with some crusty bread, or a small salad of light greens with a dressing of olive oil, red wine vinegar and dijon mustard.
This would work well using beans instead of the orzo pasta too (canelli etc).
