I’ve always maintained my daughter has a SEE-food diet, to the extent that she begs for food from strangers – literally! But I’d much rather talk about the amazing SEA-food my parents brought home from their holiday!!! Yummmm!
Green prawns, flathead, whiting, baby octopus, cuttlefish, just to name a few! All of which, I am sure, my daughter will eat!
What to do with this? PASTA!!! I’m all over this new good-for-you pasta.
I’ve always made my pasta dishes really simple, and I always finish it off with a generous dollop of cream – unhealthy? Debatable! Everything in moderation!
I really like keeping my pasta dishes simple and using just a few ingredients properly. Plus, cooking is about using what you have access to, not running to the supermarket for ingredients every day.
For this one, I used cherry tomatoes (because I had a punnet in the fridge that needed using), baby spinach (because it’s full of iron, I put it in everything and I can’t stand a dish that doesn’t have something green in it), oregano (because it is in my garden) and feta (because it is always in the freezer). USE WHAT YOU HAVE AT HAND!
To prep, I cut the cherry tomatoes in half, the green prawns were thrown in a bowl with lots of garlic and oregano, and the water was on the stove with a good amount of salt in it. The lupin pasta takes about 5 minutes to cook, so you MUST get your water boiled before you start cooking – it is really that quick!
So when I threw the pasta in, I knew I had 5 minutes to do the rest. On a hot pan (pre-heated), I cooked the cherry tomatoes in olive oil and salt and pepper for 2 minutes, then removed them from the pan. I cooked the prawns in the same fashion for 3 minutes. Then I added the pasta straight to the hot pan (with tongs) from the saucepan of water. This allows you to use some of the pasta water for added flavour. Then I added the rest of the ingredients, stirring and moving it around the pan the whole time.
Finishing your pasta off with a bit of cream gives a nice little sauce without really having to make one separately (like you would a bolognese). I find that when I use yummy ingredients like this (or mushrooms and bacon), you really don’t need to add too much cream to get a really nice flavour. By adding only a small amount of cream. it allows the pasta to still be reasonably light and refreshing.
This was such a hit that my brother (who rarely cooks) asked me how I did it! When you get hold of some great seafood, keep the recipe simple so you can really enjoy it!
Prawn and Cherry Tomato Fettuccine
Serves 5
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 7 minutes
500g lupin pasta
1 punnet cherry tomatoes
olive oil
salt and pepper
2 sprigs oregano
3 garlic cloves
3 doz green prawns
40g persian feta
1/4 cup cream
1 cup baby spinach
- Cut cherry tomatoes in half.
- Finely chop oregano and garlic, and combine with green prawns.
- Boil water in a large saucepan with 1 tbsp salt and heat large pan. When the water is boiled, add the pasta to the water. Cook for 5 minutes, or until al dente.
- Add cherry tomatoes to the hot pan, stirring constantly. Cook for two minutes and remove from pan.
- Add prawns to the hot pan, stirring constantly. Cook for three minutes, or until cooked through.
- Add cherry tomatoes, feta and cooked pasta. Pasta can be added straight from the pot. Use the pasta water to stop any pasta from potentially sticking.
- Add cream and baby spinach, stir through.
- Top with parmesan and fresh oregano leaves (optional).
Tips:
- Your flavour should come from the ingredients, rather than a bottled sauce. This allows you to know what is going into your food – no hidden nasties. This is easiest when it is kept simple and you use fresh ingredients. I used leftovers from a roast chook the other night, with semidried tomatoes, feta and snow peas (what I had in the fridge) with a bit of paprika and a dash of cream.
- Make sure you use a hot pan and constantly move the ingredients around the pan to prevent sticking.
- I am currently selling my lupin pasta to the Albury/Wodonga area. Contact info@lupinliving.com for more information.