SWEET PEA & PRAWN PASTA SHELLS

Pascal doesn't like fish with pasta and so I thought I would take advantage of him being in France again and cook this prawn and pea pasta. It is a Jools Oliver recipe which I ripped out of a paper quite a while ago. I love Jamie Oliver's recipes however they always need so many ingredients - whereas this one uses items you will normally have in the cupboards / fridge / freezer which makes it super easy. I cooked it for 2 people however here are the ingredients for 4 people. It takes around 15 minutes in total to prepare and cook.

Ingredients for 4 people:

320g dried pasta shells
4 cloves of garlic
1 fresh red chilli (optional - I left this out)
Olive oil
200g frozen peeled fresh prawns (I didn't use frozen and it didn't matter)
200g frozen peas
1 heaped tbsp tomato puree
50g Parmesan cheese

Cook the pasta in a large pan of boiling salted water according to the packet instructions. Mine took 13 minutes.

Meanwhile peel and finely slice the garlic and deseed and finely chop the chilli if you are using one. Put them both in a large frying pan over a medium heat with a good glug of olive oil.

Fry until lightly golden - around 5 minutes - and then add the peas.

Then immediately add the prawns and tomato puree and a couple of tablespoons of boiling cooking water from the pasta.

Simmer slowly on a low heat until the pasta is ready.

Once the pasta is cooked, drain it, but reserve a couple of tablespoons of the cooking water.

Season the sauce generously, then add to the pasta and toss together with the grated Parmesan.

Divide between bowls and serve immediately.

This was much better than I expected - I didn't expect it to have much favour as the only sauce is the tomato puree and cooking water and it looked pretty watery but it actually works well. You definitely need to season though. I am pleased that the recipe recommends using cheese with shellfish - I always remember having a seafood risotto at La Famiglia in Chelsea several years ago and the waiter refused to let me have any Parmesan as Italians say they don't go together….I certainly don't agree! Arabella would have this again but she would prefer to use salmon or tuna….apparently the only prawns she likes are the crispy prawns at the Chinese restaurant at the Sofitel in Gatwick…..well at least I know now! 

This dish was super quick and easy to make and is great for a last minute lunch or dinner.

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