Pasta Aglio Olio with prawns

It has been a week of horrors. On the 21st of this month, Friday night, there was a huge fire in our neighbourhood. It was something I don't think I want to ever go through again. Our house had to be evacuated, but Alhamdulillah the fire thankfully didn't reach our home or our road, but the whole area was filled with smoke and bits of ash coming from the site. My heart goes out to all the families who were affected by the fire and had lost their homes. I pray they are able to come out stronger and able to get back to normal lives soon.

Now for today's recipe.....

Gone are the days of tomato sauce, then there was the carbonara phase and now its Aglio olio phase. I love this simple way of cooking pasta, need a few ingredients and it is ready in  30 minutes.

Even though my older son doesn't like prawns I made this one, replacing with chicken for him ( will post a recipe soon). But the one thing to be careful about this pasta is that you have to serve it as soon as you make it.

I marinated the prawns ( about 200g) in a mixture of garlic, dried chilli flakes, lime zest and curry leaves and salt.

This I pan-fried till they prawns were cooked, about  5 minutes.

I removed the prawns, wiped the pan a bit and then added a generous amount of olive oil and garlic. When cooking Aglio Olio, have to cook the garlic on medium heat, not high heat. While the sauce is being made, the pasta should be cooking. Then everything gets tossed together with the help of a little pasta cooking water. Then served at once.

Yield: 2

Author: Nammi

Pasta Aglio Olio with Prawns

prep time: 10 mins Cook time:20  mins total time: 30

ingredients:

for the prawns

• 200g frozen prawns, shelled and deveined.
• 1 clove garlic
• zest of 1 lime
• 6 curry leaves, 
• 1/2 tsp dried chilli flakes
• pinch of salt
• olive oil

Pasta

• 200g spaghetti
• 3-4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1/4  or 1/2 tsp dried chilli flakes
• a big handful of parsley, finely chopped
• Juice of 1/2 lime 
• water to cook pasta
• salt
• 4-5 tablespoons olive oil

instructions:

How to cook Pasta Aglio Olio with Prawns

Prawns

1. Finely chop the garlic, add the curry leaves, lime zest and dried chilli flakes and run the knife over the pile in a chopping motion so you get this aromatic mixture. Add a pinch of salt and a place in a bowl along with the prawns and mix well. Set aside for 10 minutes to marinate.
2. Heat a large frying pan with 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil to high heat.
3. Add the prawns once the oil is hot.  Cook on high heat tossing every few minutes till the prawns are cooked. Remove to a plate and set aside.

Pasta

1. Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil, and season well with salt, it is said that Italians cook the pasta in really salty water, some say it should taste like the sea. 
2. Add the spaghetti and let it cook till al dente'.
3. While the spaghetti cooks,  return the frying pan that you used to cook the prawns to the stove top. 
4. Wipe the pan a bit with a tissue to remove any burnt bits. Add olive oil and garlic and heat up on medium heat.
5. Once the garlic starts to sizzle and releases its delicious smell, not raw smell, add the chilli flakes, and stir it around a few seconds.
6. Squeeze the juice of 1 lime and add a few ladles of the pasta cooking water into the pan.  Add a tiny. pinch of salt as well. 
7. By now the pasta will be cooked, add the pasta into the pan and toss to coat, along with some extra pasta water.  ( you will need about 1/4- 1/3  cup in total) .  Stir in the prawns as well and the chopped parsley. 
8. Serve immediately

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