This fancy Garlic chilli prawn pasta will have you dressed up for dining at home, and you may even break open that expensive bottle of wine!
Fancy Garlic chilli and prawn pasta
This irresistible pasta looks and taste as good as an Italian restaurant, but something this fancy must be difficult to make? WRONG! you’ll be surprised to know how simple it is to make this pasta dish and you don’t even need that many ingredients to achieve this incredibly satisfying bowl of linguine pasta!
Garlic chilli prawn linguine pasta, it’s almost like a tongue twister trying to say it out loud. The perfectly cooked pasta soaks in the flavour from the chilli and the garlic whilst the rocket adds a burst of freshness. BUT the best part is having plenty of plump and juicy prawns hiding in the pasta!
My fun food days as a poor uni student
During my second year of uni, I met Amelia and we shared a townhouse together on campus. She was an international student from Canada with an Italian background. Amelia wore tracksuits everywhere and she would look fantastic in them! She also swore constantly and partied like it was the last day on earth.
Sadly, we had to say our goodbyes as after studying a year in Sydney she went back to Canada. The good thing is we’ve managed to stay in contact after all these years. Amila is now married with three young children, I still can see glimpses of the old Amelia and it cracks me up.
My circle of friends at uni were poor because we were full-time students with no jobs. As a result, we had to find creative ways to make our food last longer. We shopped smart and bought affordable ingredients to make big tasty meals to share each night.
The dish I was known for was fried rice using frozen vegetable mix (haha!) and Amelia’s dish was garlic linguine with olive oil.
When Amelia made her pasta for the first time I was curiously watched her cook. She was stirring the pasta into the infused garlic oil when I asked her what else was going in. She replied ‘just salt and some dried mixed herbs’. I was hoping she was joking as I was secretly worried that we would be having bland pasta for dinner.
MY GOSH! I was so wrong and her simple garlic linguine pasta dish was incredibly delicious.
Ingredients for garlic, chilli and prawn linguine pasta
I have used Amelia’s garlic pasta recipe ever since and still make it today. But being me, over time I have experimented and tweaked with the recipe. I have tried her pasta with salami, mixed seafood, prawns, clams and added different herbs and chilli.
For this recipe, I only added prawns, chilli and baby rocket so it’s still a quick simple pasta dish.
Prawns – (Shrimps) I used frozen prawns for convenience and when I want to cut prep time down but fresh large prawns can be substituted.
Pasta – I prefer to use thin long pasta such as linguine or thin spaghetti for this dish as other types of pasta will be too dry as there is no sauce.
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Rocket – (also known as Arugula) Tomasi and Nara hate rocket due to its bitterness so I use baby rocket as it has a more subtle taste.
Parmesan cheese – If possible try to use a good quality parmesan cheese that you’ll need to shave off as the flavour is much better.
There is quite a generous amount of garlic and chilli in this pasta as it’s the main flavours that carry out the dish as there is no sauce. Feel free to adjust these amounts to suit your taste.
How to make garlic chilli and prawn pasta
Step-by-step guide
The key to making this dish perfect is to not overcook the pasta and the prawns. Doing so will result in sloppy soft pasta and rubbery prawns!
To avoid this, keep checking on the pasta when it’s boiling and when it’s chewy with a bit of a bite (al dente) stop cooking immediately and drain the water. The pasta will be cooked a second time in the pan with the rest of the ingredients so it will soften more.
The prawns are cooked as soon as its colour has changed and it’s no longer opaque.
1
1. Cook the linguine as per the instructions on the packet but make sure not to overcook it. Drain water and leave aside.
2 & 3. In a large pan heat up the oil then add the garlic and add in the prawns and stir until the prawns are half cooked.
4 & 5. Add in the linguine, chilli and salt and cook until prawn is fully cooked and pasta is heated through.
6. Let pasta rest for a few minutes off the stove before adding the rocket and the parmesan cheese and serve immediately.
Leftovers can be kept in a sealed container in the fridge but only for a day or two.
Below are more tasty easy and budget-friendly recipes:
Halloumi fritters – So tasty simple and a creative way to use halloumi cheese. If you have an infant or toddler they will love it too, actually, your whole family will!
Wasabi pea soup – Try this yummy, creative and healthy soup. It can be served warm or cold and the colour is of the soup is gorgeous!
Fried crispy chicken – So delicious and yet so simple, it only has 6 ingredients but the result is awesome finger-licking fried chicken!
Coffee Jelly with cream – A perfect dessert for spring or summer and goes so well after dinner, you’ll be surprised how tasty and easy it is to make!
Cooking measurements are in Australian standard spoon and cup measurements.
A Third-Party Application calculated the calories and nutritional information. Please use this as an approximate guide only.
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Cheers (I’ll drink to that) – Cat Tre
GARLIC CHILLI AND PRAWNS LINGUINE PASTA
Ingredients
- 350 gm dried linguine pasta (cooked and drained) (NOTE 1)
- ⅓ cup light olive oil
- 5 clove garlic (minced)
- 500 gm large frozen peeled prawns (thawed) (NOTE 2)
- 4 small red chilli (eg bird's eye)
- ½ tsp salt
- freshly cracked pepper (optional)
- ½ cup parmesan cheese (shaved) (NOTE 3)
- 60 gm baby rocket leaves (or 1 cup) (NOTE 4)
Instructions
- Cook pasta as per instructions on the packet but make sure pasta is not overcooked (NOTE 1) Drain pasta and leave to the side.
- Heat up the olive oil in a large pan on medium to high heat for 3O seconds. Add in the garlic and stir for 20 seconds or until fragrant then add in the prawns and stir until half cooked.
- Add in the linguine, chilli and salt and continue stirring and cook for 2 to 3 minutes or until the prawns are fully cooked (NOTE 2) and the linguine is well heated through.
- Let the pasta rest in the pan for a few minutes off the heat before stirring in the rocket and the parmesan cheese. Season with salt and pepper to suit your taste.
