Roast Seafood

by Nigella. Featured in KITCHEN

Introduction

There are some recipes that, however much I love them, are for special occasions only. This is pre-eminently one of those! This is what I cook for friends when we have something to celebrate: while it is undeniably luxurious, the preparation is simple (and you can always cook the potato part before people come and just slip them back in the oven to heat up again before adding the seafood) and you need serve nothing more than a salad alongside.

Of course, it’s entirely right that this feels like a treat: after all, seafood doesn’t come cheap. But when it’s fresh, tender-fleshed and cooked quickly like this, you get the best of it. Besides, it’s surprisingly filling and on just the right side of rich; the sharpness of the lemon and comforting starchiness of the potatoes keep it all in check. Oven-cooking seems to intensify all the flavours, but in a way that underscores rather than overwhelms; this is, above all, a chic and simple feast.

For US cup measures, use the toggle at the top of the ingredients list.

As featured in

KITCHEN

2010

Buy Now

Image of Nigella's Roast Seafood — Photo by Lis Parsons

As featured in

KITCHEN

2010

Buy Now

Ingredients

Serves: 4-6

Metric Cups

1 kilogram potatoes
8 cloves garlic (unpeeled)
2 small red onions
1 unwaxed lemon
4 x 15ml tablespoons regular olive oil
350 grams small clams in their shells
6 - 8 baby squid
575 grams or 16 raw king prawns (unpeeled, and with their heads on)
3 x 15ml tablespoons dry white vermouth or white wine
Maldon sea salt flakes
freshly ground black pepper
2 - 3 x 15ml tablespoons roughly chopped fresh flatleaf parsley (to serve)

2 pounds potatoes
8 cloves garlic (unpeeled)
2 small red onions
1 unwaxed lemon
¼ cup regular olive oil
12 ounces small clams in their shells
6 - 8 baby squid
1¼ pounds or 16 raw king shrimp (unpeeled, and with their heads on)
3 tablespoons dry white vermouth or white wine
kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
2 - 3 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh italian parsley (to serve)

Method

Preheat the oven to 220°C/200°C Fan/425°F. Cut the potatoes, without peeling, into thick slices and each slice into quarters. Put them into a large roasting tin (mine is 37 x 34cm/15 x 14in) with the whole cloves of garlic.
Quarter the onions, peel them (I find it easier to do it this way around), then halve each quarter horizontally. Quarter the lemon and cut each quarter into 1cm / ½-inch pieces. Add the onion and lemon to the tin with the potatoes and garlic.
Drizzle over 2 tablespoons of the oil and cook in the oven for 1 hour.
Meanwhile, soak the clams in a bowl of water — if any are smashed or don't close after they've soaked, throw them away. Slice the squid into rings.
After 1 hour, take the tin out of the oven and place on a low heat on the hob so that the pan doesn't cool while you add the seafood.
Arrange the drained closed clams, baby squid rings and whole raw prawns over the potatoes, garlic, lemon pieces and onions.
Splash the seafood with the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil and the vermouth, then season with salt and pepper.
Put the roasting tin back in the oven for 15 minutes, by which time the clams should have opened and the prawns pinked up. Discard any clams that have not opened.
Scatter with freshly but not too finely chopped parsley and serve straight from the tin: it couldn't look more beautiful.

Preheat the oven to 220°C/200°C Fan/425°F. Cut the potatoes, without peeling, into thick slices and each slice into quarters. Put them into a large roasting tin (mine is 37 x 34cm/15 x 14in) with the whole cloves of garlic.
Quarter the onions, peel them (I find it easier to do it this way around), then halve each quarter horizontally. Quarter the lemon and cut each quarter into 1cm / ½-inch pieces. Add the onion and lemon to the tin with the potatoes and garlic.
Drizzle over 2 tablespoons of the oil and cook in the oven for 1 hour.
Meanwhile, soak the clams in a bowl of water — if any are smashed or don't close after they've soaked, throw them away. Slice the squid into rings.
After 1 hour, take the tin out of the oven and place on a low heat on the hob so that the pan doesn't cool while you add the seafood.
Arrange the drained closed clams, baby squid rings and whole raw prawns over the potatoes, garlic, lemon pieces and onions.
Splash the seafood with the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil and the vermouth, then season with salt and pepper.
Put the roasting tin back in the oven for 15 minutes, by which time the clams should have opened and the prawns pinked up. Discard any clams that have not opened.
Scatter with freshly but not too finely chopped parsley and serve straight from the tin: it couldn't look more beautiful.

Additional Information

MAKE AHEAD:
Potatoes can be prepared 1 day ahead. Submerge in a bowl of water and store in the fridge. Drain and pat dry before using. Onions and lemons can be cut 1 day ahead and stored in bowls tightly covered with clingfilm in the fridge.