Niamh Shields burst onto the blogging scene in 2007 and has since snapped up countless accolades for her food writing by The Times, The Telegraph and The Stylist, to name a few. Niamh is passionate about cooking, and when she's not travelling the world collecting culinary tips, she's at home concocting new and interesting meals for friends and family, including her foody fledgling niece. Here, Niamh shares all her know-how for delicious and easy home-cooking.
Speedy & delicious spaghetti with tomato & Prawns
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Prawns, and seafood generally, are a dream quick meal solution. Quick, healthy and packed with protein, they take minutes to cook and taste great. I always have prawns in my freezer for when I fancy some of my two favourite dishes: prawn curry and prawn pasta. If I am honest, the prawn pasta particularly is the perfect pick me up for when I have little energy or motivation to cook but want something good to eat.
I use raw prawns, pre-cooked ones will just overcook as you heat them up and you really want them tender and freshly cooked. Prawns just need a few minutes to cook, as soon as they turn pink they are ready to eat.
Pasta gets a bad rep, but can I let you in on a secret? Pasta made properly with high protein flour is actually low GI when cooked al dente. The best area for this in Italy is Gragnano – it is to pasta what Parma is to ham – and my favourite Pastificcio dei Campi is made here. It is more expensive, but if you compare the cost to what you would spend on an average piece of meat for a meat dish it’s a no brainer, and for me, I like to indulge as often as I can.
There is another reason for getting good pasta, specifically pasta that has been made using a bronze die. The bronze die creates a grainy surface that allows the sauce to cling to it, making your dish taste even better, Cheaper pastas made using Teflon are smooth and slippery, and therefore, don’t have the same grip.
The bottom line though is, better pasta tastes better and is far easier to digest. That is enough to sway me before I hear anything else.
Notes on the recipe: do use raw prawns, you can get them in your fishmongers or in the freezer cabinet of your supermarket. I add fresh spring onion towards the end of cooking to give it a cooling lift, and some chilli at the start to give it some heat.
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Serves 4
Ingredients
1 x 500g good spaghetti (like Pastificcio dei Campi above)
2 x 400g tin of good tomatoes
2 cloves garlic, peeled & finely chopped
1 red chilli, seed removed, finely chopped
1 tbsp sugar
250g raw prawns, with heads removed and deveined (most are like this when you buy them)
handful of fresh flat leaf parsley, torn
3 spring onions, finely chopped
Method
Start your sauce by sautéing the chilli and chopped garlic over a medium heat using a light oil for one minute.- Add the tomatoes and sugar and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to low and leave the sauce to simmer.
- Boil some salted water for your spaghetti. When boiling add the pasta and cook for the time specified on the packet.
- When the pasta is a few minutes from done, add the prawns and spring onions to the tomatoes and stir gently.
- When the prawns are pink the sauce is done, turn off the heat.
- When the pasta is done – and still has bite (al dente) – add to the sauce and ensure that the sauce is well mixed in.
- Add the parsley and season with sea salt to taste.
Serve immediately.
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