Supper Club: 3 prawn recipes to tuck into

Trofie pasta with prawns and homemade pesto

This simple prawn and pesto pasta dish from Eileen Dunne Crescenzi will be your new go-to meal for the rest of the summer

Serves 6-8

Ingredients

• 500g trofie or casarecce pasta
• 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 500g prawns, washed and shelled
• 1 garlic clove, peeled and left whole
• 100ml white wine

For the pesto

• 100g fresh basil leaves
• 100g freshly grated Parmigiano
• 50g pine nuts
• 30 peeled almonds
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 150ml extra virgin olive oil

Method

1. Blitz the basil, Parmigiano, pine nuts, almonds and garlic in a blender with half the oil.
2. Gradually incorporate the rest of the oil until you obtain a smooth consistency.
3. Cook the pasta in a large saucepan of boiling salted water until al dente or according to the packet instructions. Drain well.
4. Pour the pesto and 2 tablespoons of the extra virgin olive oil into a large serving bowl. Whisk together to create an emulsion.
5. Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil in a large pan over a low heat.
6. Sauté the prawns and garlic for about 1 minute, just until the garlic is fragrant but not browned. Remove the garlic with a slotted spoon.
7. Add the wine and increase the heat momentarily to cook off the alcohol, then cover the pan and cook for 2 minutes.
8. Add the drained pasta to the serving bowl with the pesto and mix together until all the pasta is coated with the pesto. Fold in the prawns and serve immediately.

Festa A Year of Italian Celebrations by Eileen Dunne Crescenzi from Gill Books.

Sri Lankan devilled prawns

These stir-fried prawns are quick, easy and flavoursome. A nice way to sample a Sri Lankan favourite and a perfect starter course to serve with drinks.

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 400g raw prawns, shell on
  
• 1 green pepper
  
• 1 red pepper
  
• 1 medium onion, cut into quarters
  
• 2 tsp oil
  
• 2 tbsp tomato sauce/ketchup
  
• 1 tbsp medium soy sauce (not dark)
  
• 2 tsp chilli powder
  
• 2 tsp sesame oil

Method

1. Wash and clean the prawns. Remove the head and most of the shell, leaving it just on the tail. Wash them again, drain and set them aside.
2. Remove the stems from the peppers, quarter and remove the seeds. Halve each quarter and cut them into about 1cm chunks and set them aside. Loosen the layers of the onion quarters and set aside.
3. Put the oil in a large frying pan or wok over a very high heat, and immediately add the onion. Stir-fry for 30 seconds, then add the peppers and stir-fry for a minute.
4. Tip in the prawns and stir-fry for just over a minute, then add the rest of the ingredients and stir-fry for another minute. Serve immediately.

Note: When making other devilled dishes, the main ingredient will need pre-cooking with a pinch or two of salt, before adding into the peppers and onions. You can use this method with prawns, but they do not need to be cooked for long.

Prawn wonton soup

This recipe shows how, with a bit of imagination, techniques learnt from one style of cooking can be applied to many different dishes that you wouldn’t expect. Here, a simple Italian technique for making tortellini is used to create these delicate little prawn wontons.

Serves 1