Sea Urchin Spaghetti
After a feast of sea urchin crostini with lardo I still had half a tray of sea urchin left, and faced with the tough decision to either eat them with a spoon or whip up this easy and tasty pasta dish, I went with the latter. It’s simple, but the richness combined with the oceanic flavor is just extraordinary. And to make things come full circle a handful of slightly blanched julienned snowpeas are thrown in to add a little refreshing “bite” which counteracts the creaminess quite perfectly. I posted a similar pasta inspired by the one served by Dave Pasternack at Esca in NYC a few years ago but the “bowiesque” photography at the time convinced me it was time for a little update.
Next time you plan on cooking shrimp, buy them head-on and save the heads to make a quick and flavorful shrimp stock. It’s a great thing to keep in the freezer when making dishes like this one. All I had to do is puree the sea urchin in a food processor with softened butter and piment d’espelette and added it to the reduced broth. It emulsifies to create the creamiest of sauce deliciously flavored with shellfish and uni with the gentle heat of the piment d’espelette.
And for an extra oomphff of umami I sprinkled the pasta dish with dried shrimp roe which can be easily found at your nearest Chinatown. Enjoy!
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Sea Urchin Spaghetti
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- Inspired by Esca
- Serves 4
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For the shrimp broth:
- 10 shrimp, heads removed and roughly chopped. Reserve tails
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 1 branch celery, chopped
- 1 small carrot, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, smashed
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 3/4 cup dry white wine
- 1 small bouquet garni: thyme, parsley stems, tarragon and a bay leaf
- 1 strip lemon zest
- 2 cups water
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For the pasta sauce:
- 8 ounces fresh sea urchin
- 4 tablespoons butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon piment d’espelette
- sea salt to taste
- 1 cup shrimp broth (see above)
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To finish:
- 1 lb spaghetti
- piment d’espelette to taste
- a handful snow peas, julienned and quickly blanched
- dried shrimp roe
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For the shrimp broth:
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- Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan and add the chopped shrimp heads. Cook until they begin to brown, about 5 minutes. Add the onion, the celery, the carrot, the garlic and continue cooking until they soften and start to stick to the bottom of the pot.
- Add the tomato paste and continue cooking for another 3 minutes while stirring frequently. Deglaze with the white wine and reduce until almost nothing is left. Add the bouquet garni, the strip of lemon and the water and bring to a boil. Simmer gently until you have about 1 cup of liquid left, about 20 minutes.
- Strain the liquid and reserve. Discard the solids.
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For the pasta sauce:
- Place the sea urchin, the softened butter, the espelette pepper and a good pinch of sea salt in the bowl of a food processor and process to a smooth puree.
- If not using right away, cover and reserve in the refrigerator. When ready to proceed, place one cup of shrimp broth into a large pan and bring to a boil. Whisk in the sea urchin mixture until smooth, do not boil it. You should have a very creamy pasta sauce. If it gets too thick (and it will) use some of the pasta cooking water to bring it to the right consistency.
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To finish the dish:
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. It should taste like the sea.
- Cook the pasta to al dente. Drain and toss it in the sauce. (While the pasta is cooking, you could sautee the shrimp in butter, season to taste with salt and piment d’espelette and toss them in the pasta and the sauce. That’s optional.)
- Toss with the julienned snow peas and garnish with sea urchin, sprinkle with dry shrimp roe. Serve immediately.