The temperatures of the waters in Maine have gotten colder lending way to some of the most delicious shellfish of the season. Urchins are available, but not many know how to clean it or cook it other than sushi preparations. Here is one of my favorite ways to eat those tender little orange chunks of sweet sea butter – with some lemon and some really good pasta! We use cultured butter in this recipe because it has a sweet and sour taste (not unlike yogurt) to give a well balanced juxtaposition to the richness of the uni.
Serves 2 (main course) or 4 (appetizer)
Uni from 3 large green urchin (ours came from Maine)
½ lb fresh Linguine (dried is also acceptable if fresh is not available)
1 stick unsalted cultured butter
1 Meyer Lemon, sliced into rounds, seeds removed
1 large shallot, minced
2 T parsley, chopped finely
Salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
Boil lightly salted water for pasta
In a cast iron skillet, brown 1 t. of butter with a pinch of salt and half of the minced shallots. Once the butter is browned, add in the lemon slices in one layer. Cook the slices on medium high heat until the lemons have browned and caramelized – a little black is just fine. Remove the slices from the pan and allow to cool. Chop finely and set aside.
In a small saucepot, simmer just enough water to cover the bottom of the pan by ¼ inch. Slowly whisk in the butter, one chunk at a time. The mixture should have one color and consistency, making sure that it does not break (if it breaks, the pasta will be greasy and unappealing). Once all of the butter is incorporated, move to a warm surface, like that back of the stove top.
In a skillet, warm ½ of the liquid butter, the rest of the shallots, lemons, salt, pepper, and ¾ of the uni. Mix well, chopping up the uni lobes into smaller chunks. Toss in the pasta to coat well. Add the remaining uni to the remaining liquid butter. Plate the pasta in two bowls, topping with the held liquid butter and garnish with more black pepper and chopped parsley.
