Indulge in the exquisite flavours of this Shetland seafood linguine, featuring succulent Shetland scallops, tender langoustines, and plump Shetland mussels. This dish is cooked in a base of dry white wine and cream, which enhances the natural sweetness of the seafood while adding a subtle, aromatic depth to the dish. The handmade seaweed linguine absorbs the rich, briny essence of the sea, creating a harmonious blend of textures and tastes.
Garnished with fresh herbs and a hint of lemon, this seafood linguine celebrates the North Sea’s bounty, offering a sophisticated and satisfying culinary experience.
Italian cuisine is renowned to be one of the best cuisines in the world. It ties as a close favourite of mine along with the flavours of the Middle East.
Traditional Italian cuisine is not meant to be complicated with long, elaborate preparation methods, instead, it relies on good quality fresh ingredients to make it the speciality that it is.
Using this philosophy I prepared this rather delicious Shetland seafood linguine recipe.
Shetland seafood
I live on a tiny little rock in the middle of the North Sea, midway between Iceland, Norway and the Scottish mainland; an island not particularly renowned for its sun-ripened tomatoes, vineyards and abundance of olives.
Instead, we are surrounded by some of the finest fishing waters in the world. The world’s first MSC-certified king scallops came from our shores, and the shellfish from Blueshell Mussels, the UK’s leading rope-grown mussels are second to none.
It’s a small island, my island, and I know the names of the people who grow, harvest and process this shellfish. There’s something incredibly wonderful about working with ingredients when you know where they have come from.
Combine this with freshly picked organic vegetables and free range eggs from my CSA veg box scheme and I’m beginning to touch on the spirit behind a good quality Italian meal.
I’ve used this locally sourced produce to create a delicious Italian-inspired seafood linguine, and I’ve made the linguine itself from the best ingredients I could find.
Ingredients for seafood linguine
- 4 tbsps butter
- 1 large leek
- 1 onion
- 1 large clove garlic
- 80 ml dry white wine
- 80 ml single cream
- 1 kg Shetland mussels
- 4 langoustines
- 4 large Shetland scallops, or 8 small
- pinch saffron
- freshly ground black pepper
- fresh flat-leaf parsley to garnish
- 300 grams dried linguine, or make your own seaweed linguine from scratch
How to make Shetland seafood linguine
- Clean the mussels and discard any that are open or have cracked shells.
- Slice the leeks into thin circles and finely dice the onion and garlic.
- Heat half the butter in a deep, heavy-bottomed skillet with a fitted lid and gently sauté the vegetables for 5 minutes, until they begin to soften.
- Meanwhile, bring two pans of water to the boil – one for the pasta and one for the langoustines.
- Heat the other half of the butter in a non-stick frying pan.
- Add the cream, wine and saffron to the vegetable mixture and bring to a simmer.
- Add the mussels to the vegetables, give the pan a good shake and pop the lid on, shaking occasionally, for 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to the packet instructions and plunge the langoustines into the boiling water, cooking for 2-3 minutes.
- Sear the scallops on both sides for 2-3 minutes each in the frying pan.
- Drain the pasta and toss gently with the mussels and vegetables, discarding any mussels which are not open. Top with a langoustine, the scallops and sprinkle with parsley. Serve immediately
Make your own seaweed linguine
There is something intensely satisfying about making your own pasta from scratch. Some years ago I picked up a second-hand Italian pasta machine in a charity shop outside Glasgow for only £10 and I haven’t looked back. Fresh homemade pasta is a regular occurrence in our kitchen, and it’s rather therapeutic to make if you have the time.
Making your own pasta is so simple to do – use one free-range egg for every 100 grams of ’00’ Italian pasta flour, and that’s it! Make a well in the centre of the flour, crack in your eggs (see that gorgeous yellow glow the pasta has? You only get that from using high-quality eggs with rich orange yolks), use a fork to start mixing it up, and when it starts clumping, you knead it, hard, for a good two or three minutes until it forms a smooth dough.
Wrap in cling film, chill for an hour, and roll out as desired! I’ve added a couple of teaspoonfuls of Scottish dulse flakes to mine, just to add my own island twist to a classic Italian recipe.
For simplicity, you can always use a good-quality, ready-made linguine, either fresh or dried, for this seafood recipe.
Recipe inspiration
This Shetland seafood linguine recipe is inspired by one I was taught years ago by local Shetland Shellfish producer when I asked how he cooks his mussels at home, but I’ve added a few twists of my own, namely, using butter to give the dish a lovely buttery taste, using a minimal quantity of wine and cream and adding a pinch of saffron.
The mussels will create their own liquid while they steam in the cream and wine, adding to the lovely seafood flavour of the dish.
I have learned, recently, that authentic Italian pasta recipes do not require lots of sauce – a simple light coating of sauce is sufficient.
The showstopper for this dish is the langoustine, aka Norway lobster/scampi/Dublin Bay prawn. I bought mine, frozen, at a local fish market in a nearby village.
Langoustines are often frozen as soon as they are caught to maintain freshness. Think of the number of days it might take for a fishing boat to return home and land its catch. These frozen langoustines can often taste better than their fresh counterparts, or so I am led to believe. They only take a few minutes to cook, too, which is a bonus.
Recipe Difficulty Levels
Easy
Requires basic cooking skills and ingredients you most likely already have in your kitchen.
Moderate
Requires more experience, preparation and/or cooking time. You may have to source special ingredients.
Challenging
Recipes requiring more advanced skills and experience and maybe some special equipment.
Shetland Seafood Linguine Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 tbsps butter
- 1 leek
- 1 onion
- 1 clove garlic
- 80 ml dry white wine
- 80 ml single cream
- 1 kg Shetland mussels
- 4 langoustines
- 4 large Shetland scallops or 8 small
- 1 pinch saffron
- freshly ground black pepper
- fresh flat-leaf parsley to garnish
- 300 grams dried linguine or make your own seaweed linguine from scratch
to make your own seaweed linguine
- 300 grams Italian ’00’ pasta flour
- 3 large free-range eggs
- 2 tsp dried dulse flakes
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Instructions
- Clean the mussels and discard any that are open or have cracked shells.
- Slice the leeks into thin circles and finely dice the onion and garlic.
- Heat half the butter in a deep, heavy bottomed skillet with a fitted lid and gently sauté the vegetables for 5 minutes, until they begin to soften.
- Meanwhile, bring two pans of water to the boil – one for the pasta and one for the langoustines.
- Heat the other half of the butter in a non-stick frying pan.
- Add the cream, wine and saffron to the vegetable mixture and bring to a simmer.
- Add the mussels to the vegetables, give the pan a good shake and pop the lid on, shaking occasionally, for 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to the packet instructions (or simmer for 2-3 minutes if using fresh) and plunge the langoustines into the boiling water, cooking for 2-3 minutes.
- Sear the scallops on both sides for 2-3 minutes each in the frying pan.
- Drain the pasta and toss gently with the mussels and vegetables, discarding any mussels which are not open. Top with a langoustine, the scallops and sprinkle with parsley. Serve immediately
to make the seaweed linguine
- Place the flour into a medium sized bowl and make a well in the centre.
- Crack the eggs into the hole and, using a fork, work the flour into the egg until it starts to clump together.
- Turn out onto a floured surface and knead for 2 minutes, until it forms a smooth but elastic ball.
- Divide into two disc shapes, wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 60 minutes.
- Run through your pasta machine, starting at the thickest setting (twice) and then working through each thinner setting until you reach the desired thickness. Mine was the second from the last setting.
- Run through the linguine setting on your pasta machine and drape over the back of a wooden chair (or use knitting needles propped up under cookbooks if you don’t have dowel rods or a wooden chair) to hold the pasta until it’s ready to be cooked.
Mamta Gupta’s Keema Meatball Curry
Wow, look so tasty. I like all pictures. The way you describe and instruct how to make this recipe is really great. It seems that you make a right choice of how to decorate this recipe. Enjoy reading this. Thanks for sharing and have a nice weekend.
Hi Elizabeth,
Husband & I are both huge fans of seafood. We need to visit your island sometime!
Your seafood linguine looks amazing and homemade pasta – YES!!
And pasta machine for only £10? What a great deal. 🙂
Amy
i always want to make my own pasta but i don’t have time 🙁 this dish looks gorgeous, full of nutrition for a dinner. my kids love seafood a lot. so this recipe is very useful to me. thanks for sharing.
Oh yum!!!!
I adore pasta and I adore seafood. SO this is pretty much my ideal meal!
I love making homemade pasta, but I have never tried it with seaweed. But I think it sounds amazing!
Italian food – weakness, I love the look of this recipe and how you’ve presented it, I still keep seafood in my diet, thank you for sharing.
Wow that looks amazing. Love seafood. Love everything about this recipe
The past looks delicious but I’m allergic to Seafood!
Wow the seafood flakes sound like a great addition. Homemade pasta and seafood, a combination made in heaven
Your photos are absolutely beautiful! And the fact that you made pasta by hand is stellar! My husband will LOVE this dish! xoxoxo
Wow, this looks incredible! I love seafood and seaweed a lot so this is my kind of dish!
This is my kind of pasta! So good and perfect for the weekend!
Thanks Meeta 🙂 It’s definitely something to make when you’ve got a little extra time on hand, especially at the weekend. 🙂
Yum! I love seafood so this is definitely a dish for me.
Glad you like the look of it! 🙂
Yummm… This looks amazing! I will for sure be trying this today.
Do let me know how you get on! I’d love to see a photo! 🙂
Seafood is one of my favorite things to eat for dinner. I would eat seafood over a meat dinner anyday. I don’t know if I could handle making this but my husband is a good cook and I think he would really enjoy making this.
I bet you’d surprise yourself if you tried! It really is a simple meal to make 🙂
The pasta looks delicious! I don’t eat a lot of seafood, but the presentation looks very nice. I’m certain it’s a wonderful meal.
xo
Beth || http://www.TheStyleBouquet.com
Thanks Beth 🙂 I’m fairly new to the whole world of fresh seafood too – it wasn’t until I moved to Shetland that I started experimenting. You should give it a go, you might be pleasantly surprised! 🙂
You combined 2 of my favorite things, pasta and seafood. Yummy.
Awesome 😀
Just looking at you pictuers makes me whish it was lunch time already!! I think where we can we should always use local produce, fab recipe will give this one a go thank you!
Aw thanks for your kind words! Local produce is definitely the way forward, I think! 🙂
This looks amazing!!! But I’m not sure I’d put in all the effort! So much love in this dish!
It’s not too terribly much effort, especially if you use ready made pasta. The most effort involved is cleaning the mussel shells of their barnacles! 🙂
The butter looks so fresh and creamy. Never had butter like that before but will have to check it out in my local shoprite store or whoever may sell it.
It’s really a lovely butter – it’s our regular go-to spread these days. Super tasty! 🙂
Pasta is my favorite go-to comfort food of all time. I also love seafood so this pairing is the perfect meal for me!
Me too! Nothing beats a hearty bowl of pasta, unless it’s pasta with seafood! 😀
I’m blown away by your recipe, particularly the pasta with seaweed! My husband bought a pasta make that we have yet to try — your recipe would give me the perfect opportunity! Love it, and love your beautiful photos! I’m pinning this recipe to try it – thank you!
Aw thank you! 😀 I don’t make pasta nearly as often as I should as I love it. It only takes minutes to make the dough, and not too terribly long to roll it thin with a machine. Easy peasy!
This is truly Italian done right! From the fresh pasta to the sauce and everything in between. The photos are stunning, I will definitely be sharing this with my husband who does most of our cooking! Hope to see it on our table soon!
Aw thank you ever so much for your lovely words! You’ve made me smile this morning 🙂
The recipe looks amazing! I will for sure be trying this. Your photography is so on point too!! Props to you for making your own pasta too!!! I would probably fail. Haha xx
I think you might surprise yourself if you try! Pasta is super easy to make. Thank you for your compliments! 😀
This looks amazing Elizabeth, I just headed to the Bertolli site to check it out xx
That sounds wonderful!
I do love using local ingredients – they’re so fresh! Our farmer’s market includes fishermen, here in New York City, and there’s nothing like bowls of steamed mussels and littleneck clams! I’ll have to try your linguini recipe next time I buy a bag.
I’m from the North East of England so I am very familiar with the amazing seafood you have here. Lovely post and amazing recipe.
I absolutely love making my own pasta as well! It tastes amazing and I love throwing different flavors into the dough. This looks delicious!
Deeply envious of the fact that you’re surrounded by stellar seafood. Beautiful recipe!
Seafood linguine has to be one of the most luxurious dishes, especially using good quality fresh seafood! Will keep an eye out for that olive oil and butter mix.
Yum! Seafood doesn’t get any fresher than that, and fresh ingredients cooked simply is a great philosophy to live by. And eat by. 🙂
Beautiful! Seafood is my favorite & your recipe is fit for a the best of all! Homemade pasta!!! Well done!
Such gorgeous images, Elizabeth! I am going to adopt your idea of dulse to homemade pasta. On Saturday I’m going to the launch of a seaweed cookbook (the Mara Seaweed one) and may have to drop your diea into the conversation! Credit to you, of course.
So glorious, and I’m so envious of all your fabulous seafood! We don’t even have a fishmonger in my area so it’s supermarket fish or online ordering only for me!
Wowee!! This looks incredible. I am not hugely confident when it comes to cooking seafood but this is definitely my kind of thing and something I would order if I were out at a restaurant! I shall have to give it a go 🙂
Home made pasta with a lovely rich dseafood sauce is a recipe I could eat every day, I love it so much especially having just returned from my Italian holiday. I have serious seafood envy now and love all of your tempting photos!