Inspired by Donna Hay this! And unlike another Oz show – Kylie Kwong, I really enjoy Donna Hay for the languid pace it sets. And the picture perfect view of the ocean from her outdoor grill!
For me, prawns and garlic are simply inseparable. My earliest memories of eating prawns – back in the early 80’s – come from a time when procuring prawns in Delhi was often very hard, and when you did they would be so frightfully expensive, that you could afford no more than 250 or 500gms of the stuff. But those early memories are all infused with garlic in one fashion or other. That was mostly oriental cooking back then, but this brilliant dish combines some of that heavenly fragrance with the simplicity of italian pasta dishes.
This dish needs
A few large knobs of butter.
2 tbsp of olive oil.
3-4 garlic pods, sliced thin
200gms prawns of any size you prefer
a tsp of chilli flakes
a tbsp of lime juice and some lemon zest
garlic, chilli flakes. some lemon zest.
salt & pepper to taste.
Spaghetti – 200 gms (if you’re serving 2 or 3 people)
And get some garlic bread, toasted – on the side at the end as you plate the dish
Parmesan cheese – 2 tbsp – shaved or grated
C00k your spaghetti as per instructions and reserve half a cup of the starchy water that got left over.
In a big pan, melt the butter and the oil together. Add the garlic and let soften. Add the chilli flakes and the lemon zest. After about a minute add in the prawns. And a dash of salt and pepper to your taste. On a high heat, the prawns will take no more than 90-120 seconds to cook fully… so be judicious. You dont want to overcook them at all. Add the cooked spaghetti to the cooked prawns, toss the spaghetti to blend everything in and then toss in the lemon juice (also at this stage if your pasta is looking dry, bung in a couple of tbsp of the starchy water), and the parsley leaves broken with your hands.
Plate the pasta, sprinkle with some more fresh pepper and a tbsp of the parmesan cheese. Serve with pride! Its simple, but its one of the best seafood pastas you will eat! At our home, we cant seem to get enough of this – and last time out I’m told Vedika added some canned crab meat since we were short on prawns. Am sure that would be a fabulous variation as well.
Cooks & Runs 