SoSophey.com

‘Spaghetti con Gambas’ and variations thereof is probably my favourite dish, and I reckon I could happily eat it every night of the week (perhaps making an exception for pizza on Fridays). Sometimes I thrown in a bit of chorizo, sometimes I use linguine or fresh tagliatelle, and often I replace the parsley in this recipe with fresh basil. If DM isn’t eating it, I’ve even been known to add that most evil of foods- mushroom! There’s nothing clever or technical about it – here’s my basic recipe.

Ingredients – (serves 2)

180g spaghetti

150-200g uncooked king prawns (peeled and deveined- see my All Things Prawny post for tips)

1 small onion, finely diced

12 cherry tomatoes, halved

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp chilli flakes (use more or less as your tolerance permits!)

4 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed

2 tbsp olive oil

a small handful of chopped parsley

parmesan to serve

Method

Mix together the garlic, paprika, chilli flakes, olive oil and parsley.

Place the prawns in a shallow dish and pour over the olive oil mix. Leave for a couple of hours if you can, but if not give it a good stir so the prawns are fully coated.

Cook the pasta according to packet instructions and set aside.

Drain the olive oil mix from the prawns into a large non-stick pan or wok and heat gently, making sure the garlic doesn’t burn. Add the onion and fry lightly for a minute or two until it begins to turn golden and translucent. Add a little more olive oil if required.

Add the prawns and scrape in any remaining olive oil mixture from the dish. The prawns should take three or four minutes to turn pink and firm, stirring regularly with the onions.

Once the prawns are cooked, add the tomato halves shortly followed by the cooked pasta. (You may want to rinse the pasta in just-boiled water if it’s stuck together). Fold the spaghetti into the mix so that it’s nicely coated.

As soon as the spaghetti is warm and well mixed, divide the pasta, prawns and tomato sauce mix into two bowls to serve. Add parmesan shavings and black pepper as required.

Enjoy!