Since post-war Britain developed a passion for pasta, our desire for Durum wheat in dozens of shapes and sizes has grown and grown. We import £1bn of the stuff and with a little help from our European cousins have discovered this most flexible of carbohydrate accompaniment is the perfect partner for seafood.
What makes the pairing quite so perfect is pasta’s ability to showcase its culinary companion and its ceaseless potential to suit every occasion, budget and cook’s capabilities.
So, whether it’s a last-minute store cupboard scramble, date night or dinner party, the seafood pasta possibilities are bounteous.
It was Mediterranean childhood holidays that got MSC Ambassador James Strawbridge hooked.
“My love for seafood pasta comes from our family trips to Italy when I was a young teenager and I fell in love with it – whether it was clams or crab linguine.”
MSC Ambassador
“And today it’s a firm favourite with my family. It could be just some mussels in a rich tomato sauce or crab with a bit of chilli and a big bowl of pasta. It’s an interactive, shared meal of joy.”
Without a hint of snobbishness or judgment, James is also reminded of his days at college.
“It could just be a tin of tuna, a few capers, lightly fried and some tomatoes – that’s the kind of meal I’d make when I was student. It’s affordable and amazingly delicious protein.”
Student tuna melts are a thing of legend for at least a couple of generations of students, and the bonus for the current generation of university-goers is that the volume of sustainable MSC tuna available to buy is on the up. In 2021/22 the total global MSC certified sustainable tuna catch reached a record of nearly 2 million tonnes. A simple scan of the supermarket tinned fish shelves will reveal several brands boasting the reassuring blue ecolabel.
James’ fellow MSC Ambassador Mitch Tonks, founder of Rockfish and The Seahorse, looks a little closer to his Devon home for his tinned fish of choice.
“My favourite impromptu supper is a tin of sardines, and I love the Cornish MSC ones, with a little bit of tomato puree, some garlic and olive oil. Add them all to the pan, cook them out, mash them up, add some fresh basil and you have the most wonderful ragu. It’s simply and utterly delicious and all from one tin.”
MSC Ambassador & founder of Rockfish and The Seahorse
Under-confident cooks need not fear what might appear slightly fancier seafood pasta dishes either, Mitch argues.
“The whole thing about cooking seafood pasta is simplicity so as to make the most of the delicious flavour of the seafood. Cook it all together in the same pan and you’ll have something utterly delicious.
“I love keeping things simple and really quick. So for a midweek supper, take some olive oil and garlic and some chilli, a little salt, some MSC coldwater prawns, pasta and a bit of pasta water, toss it round with some parsley and a squeeze of lemon juice.”
For those coldwater prawn pasta lovers looking for slightly formal instructions, James has created his version of Garlic Chilli Prawn Spaghetti for the Sustainable Seafood September 2025 campaign – as well as a mouthwatering Shellfish Linguine.
The great thing about prawns is that there are so many MSC options available. Almost all UK major supermarkets sell them raw, cooked or frozen and sales in the UK and Ireland increased by half between 2018 and 2023 with the vast majority coming from the North West Atlantic, North East Atlantic, and North East Arctic. For those looking for an alternative from UK waters, brown shrimps from the Wash on the east coast of England have carried the blue ecolabel since 2020.
Sustainable seafood pasta recipes
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Simply using the word ‘pasta’, can confuse some. How do you know which of the at least 350 available pasta shapes to use?
The general rule of thumb aligns with Mitch’s simplicity rule. So, best to stick with something delicate to ensure the seafood isn’t crowded out. Linguine, or little tongues, emanating from Genoa, is often paired with seafood. Perhaps no surprise given the fact it’s a thriving port city.
For their popular version of crab linguine, Lussmanns Brasseries (MSC certified since 2014), add a splash of olive oil to a pan, fry off some garlic (being careful not to burn it), add 50g of crab meat, cook through, add the linguine (cooked to the brand’s instructions), also add a few chopped capers, some lemon zest and parsley, season to taste and add a further splash of extra virgin olive oil.
For those looking to really impress, lobster is hard to beat. Thanks to the ingenuity of a Channel Island fisherman, Ian Syvret, named MSC Fishing Hero of the Year at the 2024 MSC UK Awards, this most sought after of delicacies is more widely available.
Determined to build on the achievement of the Jersey and Normandy European Lobster Fishery in becoming the first native MSC certified lobster fishery in 2011, Ian, working in close collaboration with the MSC and local merchants, developed an elastic claw band that meets Consumer Ready Tamper Proof Packaging criteria thereby negating the need for local merchants and traders in the supply chain to attain MSC certification. As a result, Ian and his colleagues can now reach more customers, locally and internationally, with their quality, sustainably caught and MSC labelled lobster – protecting the fanciest of dinners for years to come.
While any pasta dish with lobster, would undoubtedly place the crustacean front and centre, parents might sometimes cunningly look to hide seafood.
“Pasta with a tin of tuna, peas and sweetcorn is the only way I can get oily fish into my kids, and the beauty is it’s not expensive either. Seafood is full of micronutrients like zinc and selenium. It’s lean protein that gives your immune system a real boost.”
Dietician and author of How Not to Eat Ultra-processed
Nichola takes every opportunity she can when eating out to stock up on all that goodness.
“I nearly always order seafood pasta because it’s not something I’d cook for myself at home. There are so many types, but my favourite would be mixed MSC seafood with a tomato sauce and olive oil. Ideally it would be with wholewheat pasta, herbs and garlic, so it’s low in saturated fat and high in anti-oxidants and fibre.”
Whether you’re looking for something healthy, indulgent, for everyday or a treat, there are a myriad of MSC certified options available that, cooked as respectfully as they have been sourced, will impress the family or your date, and ensure seafood pasta stays on the menu for decades if not centuries to come.
