Prawn Linguine with Chilli Pesto
Prawn Linguine with Chilli Pesto
Equipment
- mini blender/ chopper
- large non stick pan
Ingredients
Chilli Pesto
- 80 g Grana Padano cheese roughly chopped
- 50 g raw cashews
- 3 tbsp olive oil extra virgin
- 3 large Garlic cloves peeled and chopped
- 1-2 red chillis chopped
- 1 tsp Sea Salt flakes
- 80 g Basil leaves stem ends trimmed
Main Dish
- 200 g Raw Tiger Prawns defrosted
- 250 g Dried linguine pasta
Instructions
Chilli Pesto
- Put the Grana Padana cheese and cashews in the mini-processor, and blitz for a few seconds until they have been reduced to smaller crumbs.80 g Grana Padano cheese, 50 g raw cashews
- Pour in 2/3 of the olive oil, add the chopped garlic and red chillis and blitz again. You may need to scape the sides of the chopper bowl (I use a small silicone spatula) and mix everything thoroughly.3 tbsp olive oil, 1-2 red chillis, 3 large Garlic cloves
- Trim and discard the discoloured ends of the stems. Roughly chop the steps from the head of the basil leaves, blitz and stir. Sometimes the stems will rise above the chopper blades. Open lid, push down with spatula, and blitz again. Add the basil leaves, sea salt, and blitz and stir again until you have a wonderful green paste.80 g Basil leaves, 1 tsp Sea Salt flakes
Main Dish
- Bring a large non-stick pan of slightly salted water to the boil, tip in pasta and cook as per instructions.250 g Dried linguine pasta
- Once pasta has reached al dente texture, drain in a large colander and rise with plenty of cold water.
- Add 1tbsp olive oil to the large pan, bring to a medium heat, and scoop in the pesto. As it starts to gently bubble, tip in the defrosted raw Tiger King Prawns and regularly stir through for approximately 3-5 minutes, or until prawns are pink and firm in texture. Do make sure that you turn the prawns over to ensure that they are thoroughly cooked on both sides.200 g Raw Tiger Prawns
- With the pesto and prawns gently bubbling, add the cooked pasta, one large handful at a time, and stir thoroughly and continue to add and stir until the pasta is coated with the pesto. Ensure that the pasta is thoroughly warmed through, reduce heat and cover.
- Warm pasta plates with boiling water. Discard, dry, then divide the dish evenly.
- Garnish with the remaining basil leaves (shredded), shaving of Grana Padana cheese (optional), and some freshly ground black pepper to taste.
Notes
You can of course use any pasta. This also works really well with Spaghetti, Fusilli, Fusilli Bucati, Riccioli - we have tried them all ;o). The reason why we use Linguine more than any other pasta? Simple. Marlini 'loves Linguine'. Happy wife, happy life... ;o)
We probably make this dish once a week and yet to get bored.
Whilst this recipe suggests 250g of pasta, we cook the whole 500g bag, rinse off the starch in cold water, and store for another dish a few days later. Having cooked pasta on hand makes for a quick and easy lunch. I would suggest taking cold cooked pasta out of the fridge a good hour before starting to cook with it.