Tagliatelle Pirata

Tags

food, Italian, pasta, prawns, seafood

Just when I thought I was feeling better, I caught a cold a few days ago. We recently bought roller blades and we were roller blading outdoors almost all of last weekend, so I think that might have something to do with it. I had not been on roller blades since I was living in Australia in 1996, but I was surprised that I managed to pick it up again quite quickly and not fall!

Anyway despite being unwell, and after having so much soup, I decided to make this pasta dish that I often have whenever we go out for an Italian meal…

Ingredients
(I don’t have specific measurements for the ingredients, so just cook it according to your own taste & the quantity you want to cook)
• Fresh prawns (cleaned & de-veined)
• Fresh tagliatelle
• 3-4 cloves of garlic (chopped)
• lots of Basil (chopped)
• Dried parsley
• Single cream
• Peeled plum tomatoes
• Tomato purée
• Dried chilli flakes (optional)
• Plenty cracked black pepper & a little salt to taste
• Extra virgin olive oil

Method
1. Cook the pasta and remember to save a little pasta water for the sauce. Once done, set aside.
2. In a hot saucepan, add olive oil, garlic, dried parsley, pepper and chilli flakes.
3. Stir well for less than a minute, add the peeled plum tomatoes, salt & a little sugar and let it simmer for 2 to 3 mins. Add the cream, tomato purée and half of the chopped basil. Simmer for another 3 mins.
4. If you see that the sauce is too thick, add a little pasta water to thin it down. Now add the prawns and the rest of the basil and cook for 2 to 3 mins, making sure you don’t overcook the prawns.
5. Toss in the cooked tagliatelle into the sauce and let the sauce coat the tagliatelle thoroughly.

Garnish with dried parsley & basil, serve.

Simple, tasty and ready in minutes.

Have a great weekend to all! Happy cooking!💛

Prawns & Pineapples In Coconut Milk (no oil, no salt)

Tags

asian, asianfood, autumn, food, pineapples, prawns, spicy, sweet

It has been salads and grilled chicken for lunch and dinner these past couple of weeks which is fantastic! I’ve even got back into my running and feeling a lot stronger with much more energy!

Now that the weather is cooler in the evenings, I find myself craving for a warm asian dish with a slight kick of chilli. So last night for dinner, I decided to treat us with this simple no oil and no salt dish. This is my grandma’s recipe, which she usually makes with blue crab…but seeing as I still have this weird fear of cooking crabs, I substituted it with prawns instead.

Ingredients
• Fresh prawns (without shells)
• Half a fresh pineapple (roughly cut)
• 2 shallots, 4 cloves garlic, fresh chillies, black peppercorn (pound these in a pestle & mortar – adjust the chilli according to your own taste)
• Coconut milk
• Fish sauce
• 1 lemongrass
• Turmeric powder (if you can get fresh turmeric, pound around half thumb size of it with the garlic & shallots)
• Cilantro (optional)

Method
1. In a wok/saucepan, place all the pounded ingredients, coconut milk, turmeric powder, lemongrass, fish sauce and leave to simmer on a low heat for 15 to 20 mins until you get a lovely aroma.
2. Add the pineapples into the wok, gently stir them and leave to soften slightly for 3 mins.
3. Add the prawns and simmer till they are cooked thoroughly. (You can add cilantro at this point if you wish.)

Garnish with cilantro and serve hot with boiled white rice…

This dish is a little sweet, a little spicy and the aroma of the pineapples in the coconut milk was so divine, I was immediately transported back to my grandma’s kitchen.

Maybe one day I’ll gather my courage to make it with crabs!

Have a wonderful Thursday!💛

Prawns Prawns Prawns

Tags

food, prawns, seafood, spice

It was another glorious sunny day yesterday so I decided to hop on the metro and headed to the beach to disconnect from the heat of the city. It was not busy, oh so serene and relaxing now that the summer holidays are over. It was just nice to be able to watch the surfers take on the high waves and be mesmerised.

So, after being at the beach all morning and just taking in all that fresh sea air, I was inspired to make a delightfully simple dinner of Pan Fried Prawns in garlic, parsley, chilli & lime butter!

Ingredients
• Prawns (with or without shell)
• Dried parsley
• Garlic (diced)
• Dried chilli flakes (according to your own taste)
• Juice of 1 lime
• Butter
• a little olive oil

Method
1. Heat a pan/skillet and place the butter and a little olive oil so the butter doesn’t burn.
2. Throw in the garlic, parsley, dried chilli flakes and salt & pepper to taste. Sauté for 1 min.
3. Add the prawns, stir around to make sure it’s cooked and coated with all the ingredients.
4. Squeeze the lime, toss the prawns around and serve.

Simple, fast and finger licking good!

I love getting away from the city from time to time, get back to nature and take long walks along the beach just to disconnect. How about you?

Have a wonderful Thursday!💙