Summer Recipe: Lemon and Chili Prawns Linguine

mycookinghut June 3, 2009

London has been brighten up by scorching sun for the past few days! “It was boiling!” I heard this many times during the days! Well, deep down inside, I still miss Maldives and I check the temperature in Maldives almost everyday and I say to myself “It’s warmer in Maldives, no doub about it!” I know now that my memory in Maldives will remain in my life forever. It’s just too difficult not to have flash back from time to time! Anyway, I need to live in the present and look forward.

Well, back to the weather in London. Yeah, the summer is almost here. Not quite there yet when the temperature drops below 20°C like today! 🙁 I really hope that we are going to enjoy a bit more sunshine this year than last, which it decided to skip the summer!

As summer is drawing closer,  I am really happy to announce that a series of summer recipes will be featured on my blog over the next few weeks!! (I am very excited about this!!) I thought this would be a great way to share no fuss and delicious summer recipe ideas with all of you! I have designed the badge to signify the launch of the ‘Summer Recipes’ on My Cooking Hut! I hope you’ll like this! I will put up this badge in each future post to indicate that it’s part of the series.

For the first recipe, I have decided to make Lemon & Chili Prawns Linguine. Linguine is a type of pasta in long, slender, flat strips. Linguine looks like fettuccine, but narrow like spaghetti. More often than not, linguine is served with seafood. To spice up our summer days, I thought prawns/shrimps and chili are good combination! Of course, lemon is not left out!

When I think of seafood and summer, I think of citrus!! Zesty, spicy, and light! It’s a great lunch/dinner for the summer! I garnish my lemon & chili prawns linguine with some finely chopped pitted black olives and some watercress. Just imagine having this plate of goodness with a glass of good Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling , Pinot Blanc.. etc in the garden under the sun, what more you want to ask for?

Lemon and Chili Prawns Linguine

Yield: 4 persons

Ingredients:

16 prawns
400g dried linguine
4 tbsp olive oil
3 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
2-3 red chillies, deseeded and chopped
150g cherry tomatoes, quartered
2 tsp lemon zest
125ml lemon juice
salt and pepper

garnish:
5-6 black olives, chopped
a handful of watercress

Method:

1. Remove the heads and shells from the prawns, leaving the tails on. Slice them down the back – without cutting right through, then open them out and remove the vein. Season the prawns with salt and pepper. Set aside.

2. Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil. Add the linguine and cook according to the instructions or until they are al dente. Drain.

3. Heat up a pan and put 1 tbsp of the olive oil, add the prawns and cook until they turn pink/orange and slightly golden remove and keep warm. Use back the same pan and put the rest of the olive oil, add the garlic and cook until fragrant but not brown. Add the chopped chilies and fry for 1 minute until fragrant.

4. Then, add the tomatoes and fry for 1-2 minutes. Add the lemon zest and lemon juice and season well. Cook for another 2 minutes.

5. Add the linguine to the pan and toss together well. Divide between 4 warmed pasta bowls. Garnish with chopped dark olives and watercress.