didally.com

Of Food and perhaps a little about me

Zesty Garlic Prawn Pasta

August 20, 2007 at 2:14 am · Filed under Recipes: Seafood, Recipes: Pasta

Lemon-flavored pasta? As promised, more pasta recipes. I was searching for a recipe for my garlic prawn pasta and it occurred to me that I ever saw recipes calling for lemon juice. I wonder if the pasta will turn out be a plate of salad instead. Curious and adventurous, I dared myself to try out the recipe I’ve found.

This yellow citrus fruit serves us wonders. Lemons are valued for their many uses in flavoring the food we eat, as a garnish, and for household purposes.

Selection
Choose lemons that are firm and have a bright yellow color. Avoid soft, wrinkled lemons with spots. One medium lemon has about 3 tablespoons of juice and 3 tablespoons of grated peel.

Storage
Store lemons at room temperature for about two weeks. They can keep for up to six weeks in a plastic bag in the refrigerator. Use lemons as quickly as possible after cutting.

Some Quick Tips

Freeze lemon juice in ice cube trays for later use.

Add a twist of lemon to the water in ice cube trays for added zip to beverages.

Use juice on fruit or white vegetables to help them keep their color.

Remove odors, such as fish, onion, or bleach by rubbing with fresh lemon.

Lemon and salt can be used to treat rust spots, and to clean copper pots.

Get the most juice out of your lemon by warming it in the microwave for 15 seconds or rolling it with your hand on the counter if it is at room temperature.

Add a few drops of lemon juice to whipping cream if it doesn’t stiffen.

Use lemon to replace salt in your recipes….you’ll have less sodium.

Halved a lemon and place them in your new fridge before putting any other things in. It will remove the odor from the new fridge.

You can use lemons to marinate your food like what I did for my rosemary roast chicken, as well as fish and other meats. Toss your salad with some lemon juice instead of vinegar. Freshly grated lemon peels add that zest to your baked goods, fruit salads, desserts, and sauces. Or simply just drop a slice of lemon into your glass of water.

I made a mess when grating the lemon peel for this pasta and it took longer than I expect. Why? Because I grated it the wrong way, the peel went flying out from the grater and all over my work area. How embarrassing.

Pasta with Garlic Prawns and Lemon
Recipe from www.taste.com.au (serves 2)

180g dried pasta
1 tbsp olive oil, plus extra to toss
2 garlic cloves, crushed
12 medium-sized prawns, peeled, deveined, tails intact
½ bell pepper, medium sized
chilli flakes
1 tsp dried parsley or 1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
Juice and zest of 1/2 large lemon
1/2 cup (125ml) white wine
50g unsalted butter, chilled, cut into small pieces

Cook the pasta in a large saucepan of boiling salted water until al dente. Drain and toss with a little oil. Set aside to keep warm.

Place remaining oil and the garlic in a pan and heat gently over low heat. When the oil is hot, add bell pepper and saute for 2 - 3 minutes. Then add the prawns, chilli flakes and half the parsley, increase heat to high and cook for 2-3 minutes. Remove the prawns, bell pepper and set aside, then add the lemon juice and white wine to the pan and allow to bubble and reduce for 2 minutes.

Briefly stir in the cold butter and lemon zest until you have a smooth sauce. Return the prawns to the pan to heat through, then add the pasta. Toss together well and serve garnished with the remaining parsley.

I love this zesty prawn pasta! It’s surprising refreshing and tangy. I was afraid it might be too sour. But the lemon flavor blends really well with the prawns and pasta, at least for me. Something different from the usual savory style.

Lemon curd is in my list of to-make items. I’ll see when I can get some time to try my hand on this. I saw this Lemon Curd with Chocolate at Gastronomia. Everything there looks good and of course, sinful. I wish I can bring them all home. LOL. Meanwhile, stay tuned for the next post which will be related to lemons as well.

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17 Comments »

creepcake wrote @ August 20th, 2007 at 3:46 pm

I enjoy reading your blog entries, particularly the easy-to-cook recipes such as this. Do keep them coming, please! One more thing - your pics look real gorgeous. What type of camera do you use?

didally wrote @ August 20th, 2007 at 4:53 pm

Creepcake, glad that you find the recipes useful. I can’t handle complex recipes. lol

Some pics are taken using Canon Powershot A80, and some with Canon Powershot G3. Both are very old models already.

wiffygal wrote @ August 21st, 2007 at 2:48 pm

the prawns look delicious :o~~ the lemon jest pic is so pretty… I’m hungry…

Fei & E wrote @ August 24th, 2007 at 8:35 am

can’t wait to read more recipes.
BTW, is it possible to feature a local recipe sometime in the future?
I want to know more!

didally wrote @ August 26th, 2007 at 6:09 pm

Eve,u mean sporean dishes? I can only whip up some simple stir fries.

Evan wrote @ August 28th, 2007 at 5:54 pm

yum, looks great!! i love your pics, they’re so pretty =)

ovenhaven wrote @ August 30th, 2007 at 7:13 pm

I love the perfect colour of the prawns. Great photos as always

Camemberu wrote @ August 31st, 2007 at 9:01 pm

Oh wow, this looks good, I gotta try it someday soon! Reminds me of another delicious recipe found here:

http://www.opensourcefood.com/people/yongfook/recipes/luxurious-king-prawn-spaghetti/

didally wrote @ August 31st, 2007 at 10:03 pm

Evan & ovenhaven: Thks for your kind words.

Camemberu, wow, great site and pics. Thanks for the link. The prawn spaghetti looks so delicious. So many yummy recipes there. =D

Corinne wrote @ September 4th, 2007 at 6:30 pm

Wow, delicious, so hungry after looking at the pics. REmember to cook for me when u are free, after my wedding k?

zonkkie wrote @ September 5th, 2007 at 10:36 pm

Looks good! I am a fan of pasta without the sauce like spaghetti aglio olio. But not a fan of prawns… so probably try something else.

didally wrote @ September 5th, 2007 at 11:07 pm

corinne: Come to my house and collect the bakes. I can’t finish them. lol

zonkkie: You can try mushroom aglio olio instead.
http://didally.com/blog/2007/06/mushroom-frenzy/

Hungry Hamster wrote @ September 13th, 2007 at 2:25 pm

Thanks for dropping by! Yes I am a hamster lover

The prawns looked so juicy and succulent!

Daniel wrote @ September 16th, 2007 at 4:58 am

I couldn’t understand some parts of this article Zesty Garlic Prawn Pasta, but I guess I just need to check some more resources regarding this, because it sounds interesting.

Sausage and Roasted Peppers Penne Pasta | The CookMobile wrote @ August 12th, 2008 at 9:10 am

[…] Pasta lover? Try these recipes from around the web: Baked Macaroni Tagliatelle con Branzino Almond Pesto Fettucini Pasta Gnocchi with Prawns and Asparagus Spaghetti Putanesca Zesty Garlic Prawn Pasta […]

Eat More Parsley | Herb Garden wrote @ September 2nd, 2008 at 2:46 pm

[…] Zesty Garlic Prawn Pasta - Lemon-flavored pasta? As promised, more pasta recipes. I was searching for a recipe for my garlic prawn pasta and it occurred to me that I ever saw recipes calling for lemon juice. I wonder if the pasta will turn out be a plate of salad … […]

Jaslyn wrote @ October 30th, 2008 at 6:38 pm

Great! Am going to try this out tmr. Thanks!