When you run a food blog, friends (and sometimes family) have the impression that you cook and eat well all the time. "... but I keep seeing all those mouth-watering photos, you must be a kitchen goddess!" Truth is, we're just like most working couple out there and there are times when I'm too tired to even consider washing a spoon or mug as the result of a homemade beverage. Home only late in the evening, exhausted from work/commute/gym (or the combination of all that) more often than not sends me straight to the nearest chair, while food may be very well the center of my immediate attention, the oven or stove would be the last thing I'd want to go near. Then there are days we order in when there's no reason not to - Singapore being a small island - delivery services are excellent and choices are much more varied than just pizza, fast food or Indian.
While we're normal like that, recently, both of us found ourselves in the kitchen more often between Monday to Friday, complete with tired cleaning up actions after whipping up quick but homemade and healthy dinners. There came a point where even for Vijay, the disenchantment with mediocre outside food trumped his many excuses not to slice an onion or scrub a frying pan. So as I started to make shakes and egg noodles for our evening meal instead of picking up the phone, he mastered the art of al dente pasta in under 10 minutes instead of going downstairs to the hawker stall (which in more than one occasion had driven him up the wall getting his orders wrong).
Now, as we run along this path of salted boiling water and swimming strands of Italian noodles, there's no need to resort to bottled processed sauces or canned seafood. Going through the entire season of Australia's queen of food styling's debut TV series during my business trip in Shanghai, this recipe was quickly mentally bookmarked to tickle my other half's new found love for prawns treated right. Yes, you'd have noticed it's not exactly chopping board to plate in 10 minutes if you include the time to clean, peel and slice the prawns but really, that's the only tedious job required here. The result, trust me, will be worth the trouble. Adapted barely from Donna Hay's Garlic Prawn Pasta from her show Fast, Fresh and Simple. Note: Since this is fast, fresh and simple, there's hardly any need to measure anything - I used the juice and zest of one lemon and added the rest of the ingredients roughly. Who wants to wash more spoons/cup and whip out a weighing scale when already lazy? If you're using spaghetti or other pasta, adjust the cooking time accordingly. Meanwhile, heat a frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the butter and oil and cook until the butter has melted. Add the garlic, chilli and zest and cook for about 2 minutes. Add the prawns and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes or until the prawns are tender. Turn off heat. Drain and add the pasta, lemon juice, parsley, salt and pepper to the pan and toss to combine. Serve warm.Garlic Prawn Pasta [Printer Friendly Version]
Serves 2
Cook the pasta in a large saucepan of boiling salted water for 3–4 minutes or until al dente.
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posted by PickYin @ 11/08/2011 03:28:00 PM
21 Comments on Garlic Prawn Pasta
That noddle dish looks amazing and so tasty!
Cheers,
Rosa
Posted by 
Rosa, at Feb 1, 2012, 3:43:00 PM
This looks absolutely delicious and well worth peeling the prawns.
Posted by chutneyandspice, at Feb 1, 2012, 3:43:00 PM
This looks gorgeous...it's so important to have a few quick easy mid-week recipes up your sleeve, and pasta is often my fall back. Definitely worth getting fresh prawns too. Yum.
Posted by thelittleloaf, at Feb 1, 2012, 3:43:00 PM
this post speaks to me because like you, i am a working professional who attempts gym time sometimes and cooking is not on the forefront of my mind by the time i get home. eating out/ordering in cannot be sustainable or economical for long and turning to dishes like this is so perfect.
Posted by Lan, at Feb 1, 2012, 3:43:00 PM
This looks absolutely mouth watering! I totally agree how lazy one can be... I sometimes just fry an omelette and eat it with bread... Quick and delicious recipes like these are always worth stashing away....
Posted by shirley@kokken69, at Feb 1, 2012, 3:43:00 PM
loving the photos.. !!
Posted by Swee San @The Sweet Spot, at Feb 1, 2012, 3:44:00 PM
I love your magazine layout style in your photo. Also, your pasta looks divine. I have some prawns in my freezer that are screaming to be in a dish such as yours.
Posted by Lynne, at Feb 1, 2012, 3:44:00 PM
Rosa: Thank you dear!
chutneyandspice: Thanks, definitely worth every minute of it.
thelittleloaf: Thanks, we've learned to eat more noddles and pasta during week nights.
Lan: Many, many moons ago I was a gym bunny, stayed with my parents and came home to homecooked food minus the rice. Now with gym time pratically squeezed into the couple of hours during lunch or before sleeping with no homecooked food to come back to, I'm struggling to eat healthily and effectively.
Shirley: When I saw DH made it in her show, I quickly bookmarked it mentally for later reference. Fry an omelette? You know there are times I'm too lazy to even toast bread!
Swee San: Thank you!
Lynne: Thank you for your kind comments. Hope you did your prawns proud with a good dish!
Posted by 
PickYin, at Feb 1, 2012, 3:45:00 PM
ah, this sounded all too familiar. At least Shirley could be bothered to go make an omelette to go with bread. I often end up dunking graham crackers in milo. LOL
the pasta looks really scrumptous. And its good that Vijay's mastered the art of cooking pasta so that he could do that while you look after the sauteeing prawns. Is there enough zing to it with only 1 tbsp of lemon juice?
Posted by Alan (travellingfoodies), at Feb 1, 2012, 3:46:00 PM
Alan: You and I both. Sometimes making Milo feels like a chore!
Vijay and I don't work well together in the kitchen. I work cleanly and cannot stand any bits of mess. This doesn't go with his cook first, clean later approach. We've tried it and I ended up driving him nuts. So it's either he cook I clean or vice versa. :D
I would say depending on taste, 1 tablespoon is the recipe but a little more wouldn't hurt. I used a whole lemon without incident.
Posted by PickYin, at Feb 1, 2012, 3:46:00 PM
ah... i go by the "Monsieur Vijay Approach" of cook a helluva mess first and then *hopefully* clean up later. I know I know... I can so see your eyes rolling as you mutter, "men..." LOL
Posted by Alan (travellingfoodies), at Feb 1, 2012, 3:47:00 PM
Alan: Actually it has nothing to do with gender. I've seen the cleanest male cooks and the messiest women in the kitchen. I've been told it's a Virgo thing. Heh....
Posted by PickYin, at Feb 1, 2012, 3:47:00 PM
wow., that looks so healthy, quick and fresh! I love prawns with pasta. definitely a midweek meal!
Posted by Iva, at Feb 1, 2012, 3:48:00 PM
Iva: Healthy it is, not so sure about the quick bit if prawn peeling is involved. Get frozen raw prawns if it's available to you!
Posted by PickYin, at Feb 1, 2012, 3:48:00 PM
made this many times :D just blogged about it.. thank you for posting such simple yummy recipes.
Posted by Anonymous, at Feb 1, 2012, 3:48:00 PM
Anon: You're welcome, glad you enjoyed the dish as much as I did!
Posted by PickYin, at Feb 1, 2012, 3:51:00 PM
I stumbled upon this recipe and absolute fell in love with the bowl. Where did you get those metal bowls?
Posted by Leah, at Aug 8, 2014, 6:34:00 AM
Leah: The pewter plate is vintage from Etsy.
Posted by PickYin, at Aug 12, 2014, 8:21:00 AM
very good recipe, looking absolutely delicious and healthy. Thanks for sharing.
Posted by Unknown, at Jan 11, 2015, 6:14:00 PM
That looks really good and fancy.
Posted by Unknown, at Mar 21, 2015, 10:16:00 PM
Made this and it was easy and tasty. Watch the dried chili flakes! One half of what they recommend is enough, less if you are sensitive to heat. I also added less zest as lemon sometimes can be overwhelming. And I bought shrimp that was already peeled which if you are busy it is worth the few cents extra.
Posted by Unknown, at Mar 11, 2018, 5:18:00 AM
