Impro Pasta & Prawns

Photo © Anne-Marie Minhall

All day at work I'd been thinking about & looking forward to cooking a summery, garlicky pesto with spaghetti & some prawns.

My planning had been slack though. I knew I had the pasta, the cooked prawns, the garlic & the basil. Once back home, when I started to gather everything together in the kitchen, it dawned upon me that there was no cheese in the fridge (gasp) & that there were no nuts in the cupboard (matron).

Pesto plan postponed.

What was there then, aside from my four components.

Shallots, cherry tomatoes, fresh & dried chillies, a tiny yellow pepper & an even tinier lemon, that's what.

Pan on the heat

Oil

Chopped shallots, garlic, fresh chilli, baby pepper for ten minutes or so

Pasta in simmering water

Dried chilli flakes & halved toms into your main pan

Prawns in

Few thin slices of the lemon

Get the spaghetti involved in that aromatic sauce after draining, but, use a little of the pasta water as well just to loosen the sauce

Good old stir

Fresh basil & squeeze of lemon to serve

There will be slurping noises as you eat & you may need a flannel to wipe your face afterwards. Lips might have a warming chilli tingle.

AMM