Spaghetti with Prawns in Creamy Tomato Sauce

Quick and easy pasta dishes are a mum's life saver for days when you need to whip up an almost instant one-dish meal with minimal ingredients. Gordan Ramsey's Spaghetti with Prawns in Creamy Tomato Sauce certainly fits the bill for such a dish. 

Prawns and softened cherry tomatoes are mixed with pasta in a creamy sauce infused with aromatic basil. There is a slight hint of spiciness from the chilli but not enough to really make it too spicy for the kids to enjoy. 

I prefer more sauce, so I doubled the amount of cream added. In fact I don't think the 100ml of cream recommended in the recipe is enough to coat the 500g of pasta. This is a must-try fuss free dinner. 

Spaghetti with Prawns in Creamy Tomato Sauce (4 servings)

A Gordan Ramsey Recipe

Ingredients

• 500 g cooked Prawns
• 600 g Cherry Tomatoes
• 3 spring onions finely sliced or shredded
• 1 Chilli deseeded and chopped
• 1 Clove Garlic chopped
• Sea Salt & freshly ground black pepper
• 500 g dried Spaghetti
• 1 tablespoon Olive Oil
• 100 ml Double cream (I used 200ml of cooking cream)
• basil leaf chopped

Method

• Put the cherry tomatoes, spring onion, chilli, garlic and olive oil in a heavy-based pan and cook over a medium heat until soft but not coloured. Season with pepper and cook until soft.
• Add the spaghetti to a large pan of boiling salted water with the olive oil and cook until al dente.
• Meanwhile add the prawns to the sauce and stir in the cream and chopped basil. Warm through gently for a couple of minutes.
• Drain the pasta and toss with the pasta sauce. Divide between warm plates, Serve immediately.

This is for Cook Like A Star hosted by Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids, Baby Sumo of Eat Your Heart Out and Mich of Piece of Cake. 

Seared Tiger Prawns and Garlic, Chilli and Lemongrass

There's nothing more delicious than fresh prawns cooked simply like in this Gordan Ramsay recipe. 

Tiger prawns are really costly locally so I only bought six of them. The prawns are marinated in flavourful ingredients for half a day and that really made it that especially delicious. Sweet juicy prawns imbued with aromatic lemongrass and garlic and the spiciness of chilli!

Though Gordan Ramsay recommended that these are to be dipped into mayo or salsa, I think that's not necessary as that would cover the flavours of the marinade. I'd eat the prawns as it is!

Seared Tiger Prawns (Serves 4)

Recipe by Gordon Ramsay

Ingredients

• 12 large raw Tiger Prawns peeled and deveined - tail shell on
• 3 peeled Garlic Cloves
• 2 deseeded red Chilli's
• 2 Stalks Lemongrass
• 2.5cm piece fresh root Ginger peeled
• 5 tablespoons Olive Oil
• sea salt
• Pepper

Method

• Put the tiger prawns in a shallow dish.
• Pound the garlic, chillies, lemongrass and ginger together using a pestle and mortar, gradually adding the olive oil until you have a rough paste (or whiz briefly in the blender).
• Season with salt and pepper. Baste the prawns with the spice paste and leave to marinate in a cool place for 2-3 hours.
• Cook the marinated prawns on the hot barbecue for 4-6 minutes, turning, until they turn pink and feel slightly firm to the touch – don’t overcook.
• Serve at once, with a flavoured vinaigrette, soured cream or tomato salsa.

This is for Cook Like A Star hosted by Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids, Baby Sumo of Eat Your Heart Out and Mich of Piece of Cake. 

Shrimp Pasta in a Foil Package

I was drawn to the beautiful pictures of this Shrimp Pasta in Foil Package on the Pioneer Woman's website and the promise that "because it's baked all wrapped up - all the juices and aroma stay in there…it’s so utterly delightful."

This is an easy peasy recipe - cook the sauce, boil the pasta, throw it all together, wrap and into the oven it goes. 

The pasta sauce infused with white wine and the aroma of the coriander really makes this baked pasta dish flavourful and aromatic. Keeping it wrapped really preserves the flavours of the sauce and keeps it moist. It's great if you have guests coming - they are sure to be impressed with this pasta dish. 

Shrimp Pasta in Foil Package (Serves 4)

Recipe adapted from The Pioneer Woman

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp Olive Oil
• 2 cloves Garlic, Minced
• 2 whole 14.5 Ounce (411 g) Cans Diced (or Whole) Tomatoes
• 1/2 cup White Wine
• 500 g Jumbo Or Large Shrimp, Peeled And Deveined
•  Salt And Pepper, to taste
•  Fresh Parsley, Minced
• 180 g Linguine, Uncooked
•  Red Pepper Flakes, to taste (optional)
• A handful of asparagus, chopped up

Preparation Instructions

• Cook pasta for 1/2 the recommended cooking time. Pasta should still be very firm.
• In a large skillet or pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic and saute for a minute. Dump in the tomatoes, asparagus and wine. Stir the mixture together, season with salt and pepper, and allow to cook for ten minutes.
• Meanwhile, prepare a large parcel of heavy duty aluminum foil. It should be large enough to hold the entire pasta dish.
• Throw the shrimp on the top of the pasta sauce. Throw the drained pasta over the top, then pour the whole dish onto the foil. Top with half the parsley. Tightly wrap the foil into a parcel.
• Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 15-20 minutes. Remove from oven and keep warm until serving.
• Open the foil parcel right before serving. Top with remaining parsley and stir through the red pepper flakes (if desired). Drizzle a tiny bit of olive oil over the top. Squeeze on lemon juice, if desired.

This is for Cook Like A Star hosted by Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids, Baby Sumo of Eat Your Heart Out and Mich of Piece of Cake. 

This also goes to Months of Edible Celebrations for the Pasta Party!

Vietnamese Prawn and Mango Curry

It's mango season now and I have been buying and eating many sweet juicy mangoes from the supermarket at such reasonable prices. This time of the year is the best time to experiment with all sorts of mango dishes and desserts and this Vietnamese Prawn and Mango Curry is one of those lovely recipes which I came across. 

I have never had a Vietnamese curry before and thought that the ingredients used actually resemble Thai ingredients. The curry was easy to make and aromatic from the use of shallots, lemongrass, lime leaves and basil leaves. The flavours of these ingredients are infused into the coconut milk curry and leaves a lingering fragrance as you eat it. 

The mangoes add a sweet note to the curry and goes very well with prawns (or other seafood). I'll definitely be making this again!

Vietnamese Prawn and Mango Curry (Serves 4 to 6)

Recipe adapted from here

Ingredients

• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2 shallots, thinly sliced
• 1 carrot, cut into thin matchsticks
• 4 tbsp finely chopped lemongrass (I used 2 sticks and chopped them into large chunks, smash them for extra fragrance)
• 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
• 1 tbsp mild curry powder (I used 1.5 tbsp)
• 300 ml coconut milk (I used 500 ml)
• 1 tbsp fish sauce (I used 1/2 tbsp)
• 1 kg raw king prawns, peeled but tails left on
• 300g mango flesh, cut into 1.5 cm cubes
• 10 pieces of Kaffir lime leaves, torn (my own addition)
• 10 pieces of basil leaves, torn (my own addition)
• 200 ml water 
• More basil leaves to garnish

Method

• Fry the garlic, shallots and carrots in a heavy-based saucepan over a medium heat, stirring, for 1-2 minutes or until soft.
• Add the lemongrass, chilli and curry powder and cook for 3 minutes or until fragrant. Add the coconut milk, 200ml (7fl oz) water, fish sauce and basil leaves to the pan and bring to a simmer. Cook for 5 minutes and then stir in the prawns and mango. 
• Simmer, partially covered, for 3-4 minutes or until the prawns are pink and cooked through. Garnish with basil leaves and serve with steamed jasmine rice.

COOK'S TIP: Try adding 1kg mixed diced seafood - such as monkfish, cod, salmon and mussels - instead of just prawns

This post is linked to the event, Little Thumbs up organised by Doreen from my little favourite DIY and Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids, hosted by Miss B from Everybody Eats Well in Flanders, at this post.

Thai Red Curry Prawns

I am a big fan of spicy food (especially Thai) but have never cooked any that does not involve pre-mixed curry paste. Making my own curry paste has always been on my to-do list, but I am put off by the  long list of ingredients required. This Thai Red Curry Prawns recipe is a great recipe for me to start with since I do know all the ingredients. Besides, it looks so good that I had to have some!

The list of ingredients for the curry paste is fairly straight forward and easily available.

Even as I was blending the paste in my mixer, I could smell the wonderful spicy fragrance from the various ingredients. I am so proud of my first bowl of home-made curry paste! My mouth was already watering when I was cooking this. Right after it was ready, I did not even wait for meal time but immediately scooped some of the sauce over rice and ate it up! The prawns went well with this curry, but I think chicken would be great too.

What I would do differently next time is blend all the ingredients into a fine paste (the recipe recommends leaving it coarsely blended for texture). I had to remove some lemongrass bits as it was too hard to chew. Alternatively, one can sieve out the bits before serving the dish. This is really a fragrant and scrumptious recipe which is easy to make at home and tastes like a restaurant meal.

Thai Red Curry Prawns (Serves 4)
By Greta, MasterChef Contestant

Ingredients

Curry paste

• 1 stalk lemongrass, outer leaves and tough ends trimmed
• ½ long red chilli
• 1 clove garlic, peeled
• 2 kaffir lime leaves
• Bunch coriander, roots and stems
• 3 tablespoons capsicum, chopped
• 1 teaspoon tomato puree
• 2 teaspoons fish sauce
• 1 cm fresh ginger, peeled
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil

Curry

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 4 king prawns, unshelled
• 100 g sugar snap peas, ends removed
• 200 g tiger prawns, peeled, deveined
• 150 g tin coconut milk

To serve

• Coriander leaves
• 1 lime, cut into wedges
• ½ cup steamed rice

Method

• Cook rice in boiling water or in rice cooker.
• For curry paste, bash lemongrass stalks with the side of a knife and place in a food processor with chilli, garlic, lime leaves, coriander roots and stems, capsicum, tomato puree, fish sauce, soy sauce, ginger and sesame oil. Process, but do not make into a paste, allowing the paste to retain some texture.
• For curry, drizzle olive oil into a hot frying pan and add the unshelled king prawns. Fry for one minute and add a tablespoon of the curry paste. Fry for one more minute.
• Reduce to a medium heat, drizzle with olive oil and add the sugar snap peas and tiger prawns.
• Spoon in the remaining curry paste and stir fry for a minute before adding coconut milk. Simmer over low heat to melt down coconut milk.
• To serve, garnish with coriander leaves and lime wedges and steamed rice on the side.

Assam Prawns (Tamarind Prawns)

Over the last few weeks, I’ve been drooling over many mouth-watering Nyonya dishes posted by several blogger friends for the Malaysian Food Fest. I love Nyonya food and thought it would be great to be able to try out some dishes and take part in the event. However, I’m not much of a chef and the thought of cooking with unfamiliar ingredients seemed rather intimidating. Nyonya dishes are typically made up of many different types of ingredients and spices, some of which I have never heard of to begin with! Fortunately, I came across this Assam Prawn recipe, a Nonya favourite, which looked easy enough and had only a few ingredients.

This is my first attempt at cooking a Nyonya dish and it turned out pretty well. According to the recipe, you can either fry the prawns with or without the tamarind pulp and juice. I poured it in while the prawns were sizzling away on the pan and cooked  it till it dried up.  The marinade made the prawns very tasty and I love how the tamarind pulp and juice browned on the prawn shells. I found the prawns a little rather dry though (I read that some people like it this way) and I think it would have been perfect to have some tamarind sauce over the prawns. The next time I do this, I’ll make more of the marinade mixture, thicken it and serve it over the prawns.

A little history about Nyonya food – it also referred to as Straits Chinese food or Lauk Embok Embok, which is an interesting amalgamation of Chinese and Malay dishes thought to have originated from the Peranakan (Straits Chinese) of Malacca over 400 years ago.

Tamarind Prawn/Assam Prawns
Recipe from Rasa Malaysia

Ingredients

• 8 oz shell-on prawns
• 1 1/2 tablespoons tamarind pulp
• 4 tablespoons water
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons cooking oil

Method: Mix the tamarind pulp with 4 tablespoons water. Extract the juice from the tamarind by pressing the pulp. Remove the heads of the prawns. Devein the prawns by slitting the back. Rinse prawns with water and pat dry with paper towers. Add the tamarind juice and pulp, salt, and sugar into the prawns and mix well with your hand. Marinate for 15 minutes (I marinated for 30 minutes). Remove the tamarind pulp before cooking (I fried the prawns together with the tamarind pulp and juice). Heat up a wok and add cooking oil. As soon as it’s heated, drop the prawns into the wok and pan fry until cooked and slightly burnt. Dish out and serve immediately.