richard ‘I can’t be in love if it’s plastic
to live on my own just seems tragic
but we’ll raise our swords high when our day comes
you thought it was gold but it was bronze
so, get here in time when our day comes
you thought it was gold but it was bronze’
If this doesn’t make you laugh you have no soul
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 25 minutes
Skill level: easy
Serves: 2
Recipe: (based on) Allegra McEvedy, Guardian
Ingredients
- shell-on prawns – 500g
- cooked, prepared prawns – 200g
- 2 tomatoes – roughly chopped
- 5 cloves of garlic – chopped (2 roughly for stock and 3 finely for later)
- linguini – 200g
- almonds – whole, blanched – 50g
- 2 red chillies – finely chopped
- white wine – 250ml
- parsley – finely chopped – 30g
- olive oil
- s & p
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
Peel the shell-ons – reserve the shells/heads/etc.
Fry the shells/heads/etc. in one and a half tablespoons of olive oil along with the chopped tomatoes and two roughly-chopped cloves of garlic.
After a few minutes when the shells have changed colour and the tomatoes softened, pour in 500ml of water and simmer for 15 minutes.
Roast the almonds in the oven for 10 minutes or until golden brown.
Meanwhile bring some salted water to a boil and cook the linguini for as long as it says on the packet.
Strain the prawn stock through a sieve into a measuring jug – making sure you squash down the shells to get out every last drop of juice.
Drain the pasta and put to one side.
Put the pan back on a medium-high heat with three tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. Fry the remaining garlic and the chillies until lightly golden, then pour in the white wine and reduce on a high heat for a few minutes.
Pour in the prawn stock and reduce by half on a medium heat
Add all the prawns and cover with a lid.
After the couple of minutes it takes to heat the prawns through, turn the heat off, tip the pasta in and mix with a fork to break it up and coat it in the sauce.
Stir in parsley, taste and season, then serve in warm bowls with the roughly chopped almonds on top.
Verdict: Absolutely delicious. The prawn stock is superb and the toasted almonds a novel tasty treat. Worth the faff although probably best done on a weekend
Drink: The rest of the white … and then another.
Entertainment: Finished off ‘Snuffbox’ on DVD. Only one series. Shame on you BBC. We want more of this.
