Drain the now cooked linguini (leaving a couple of tablespoons of the cooking liquid in the saucepan) and return it to the pan, removed from the heat. Stir in the herbs and tip the shrimp mixture onto the pasta.
4 Toss everything together and check the seasoning, adding enough lemon juice to taste and more salt and pepper if necessary. Serve immediately.
Rachel’s tip
For a quick and easy snack or a simple starter, simply cook and serve the shrimps or prawns with crusty bread instead of the linguini.
Tagliatelle with smoked salmon, watercress and peas
SERVES 4
This is a really good pasta dish, great for all the family, and it makes a little bit of smoked salmon go a long way. Use rocket instead of watercress if you can’t get hold of it. If you’d like to make your own pasta, try the recipe on page 130.
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
500g (1lb 2oz) tagliatelle
200g (7oz) crème fraîche
200g (7oz) smoked salmon, sliced into strips 1cm (Hin) wide
50g (2oz) frozen peas
25g (1oz) finely grated Parmesan cheese
Good squeeze of lemon juice
2 tbsp chopped chives
50g (2oz) watercress leaves, roughly chopped
1 Fill a large saucepan with water, add 1 teaspoon of salt and bring to the boil. Add the tagliatelle and cook for 10–12 minutes (or follow the instructions on the packet), stirring occasionally, until just tender.
2 In the meantime, place the crème fraîche in a saucepan on a low heat and gently warm through for 1 minute. Add the smoked salmon strips and cook for 2–3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3 Meanwhile, cook the peas in a small saucepan of boiling, salted water (I usually take some of the pasta cooking water from the large saucepan) for 1–2 minutes or until just cooked. Add the peas to the crème fraîche mixture along with three-quarters of the Parmesan cheese, the lemon juice and half of the chives, and stir together. Season to taste with salt and pepper and remove from the heat.
4 Drain the cooked pasta (leaving a couple of tablespoons of the cooking liquid in the saucepan) and return it to the saucepan, removed from the heat. Scatter with the watercress and pour over the crème fraîche mixture. Toss everything together so that all the ingredients are well combined and check the seasoning, adding more salt and pepper or lemon juice if necessary. Divide between plates or pasta bowls, scatter with the remaining chives and serve.
Fish cakes
SERVES 4
Fish cakes are a great way of using up leftover cooked potato and fish and they go down well with children. You can also experiment with other ingredients like chilli, finely chopped cooked vegetables or different herbs to give a different flavour each time. Serve the fish cakes with a flavoured mayonnaise (see overleaf) or tomato relish.
600g (1lb 5oz) floury potatoes
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
400g (14oz) skinned white fish, such as cod, haddock or hake
150g (5oz) butter, diced
4 tbsp white wine
Juice of ¼ lemon
150g (5oz) button mushrooms, sliced
200g (7oz) cooked and peeled shrimps or small prawns, any larger ones chopped
2 egg yolks
3 tsp Dijon mustard
4 tbsp finely chopped herbs, such as parsley, tarragon, dill or chives (either one herb or a mixture)
3–4 tbsp olive oil
To serve
Salad leaves
Lemon wedges
1 Cook the potatoes as described in the mash recipe (see page 116). Peel and mash (but without adding any butter or milk) and transfer to a large bowl.
2 Meanwhile, place the fish in a wide, shallow saucepan and add 100g (3½oz) of the butter, the wine and the lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper, then cover with a lid and gently poach on a low heat for 10–15 minutes or until the fish is cooked through. Carefully remove the fish from the pan and set aside to cool a little. Turn up the heat to high and boil the poaching liquid until it has reduced by half.
3 In the meantime, melt 25g (1oz) of the butter in a small frying pan and sauté the mushrooms on a medium heat for 8–10 minutes or until soft and golden, seasoning with salt and pepper. Set aside and allow to cool a little.
4 Add the fish, reduced poaching liquid and cooked mushrooms to the mash along with the shrimps or prawns, egg yolks, mustard and herbs. Gently mix everything together, breaking the fish up as you go but being careful not to mash it up too much. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
5 Shape the mixture into eight patties (each about 8cm/3in wide and 2cm/¾in thick) and arrange on a baking sheet or large plate. Cover with cling film and place in the fridge for about 1 hour to firm up. (The fish cakes can be prepared to this stage in advance and either frozen or kept in the fridge for up to 24 hours.)
6 Place the olive oil and remaining butter in a large, non-stick frying pan on a low—medium heat and very gently fry the fish cakes for about 5 minutes on each side or until golden and warmed through, adding a little more oil or butter to the pan during cooking if necessary.
7 Divide the fish cakes between plates, add some salad leaves to each plate and serve immediately with your choice of accompaniment from below.
Accompaniments
Flavoured mayonnaise: Serve with the tomato aioli or herb and garlic mayonnaise (see pages 175 and 330) or simply add the finely grated zest of 1 lemon to the homemade mayonnaise (see page 330).
Herb butter: Serve with the dill butter (see page 327) or make a different flavoured butter by stirring 1 heaped tablespoon of your favourite herb, chopped, into 75g (3oz) softened butter until it is well blended.
Poached
