Prawns and Pasta

I couldn't find black tiger prawns anywhere and the white prawns are a bit feeble tasting.  So I went to the Butcher Block and bought their two pound bag of prawns. They were good, not freezer burned and they tasted great even though they were white prawns. Just goes to show, where you shop matters.

I started by putting seven prawns each in cold water to defrost. While they were swimming I broke up the lettuce and cut up a quarter of a cucumber into the salad bin. I also put strips of red pepper in the salad for a little extra colour and crunch. It would just go to waste sitting in the fridge. I diced up a tomato for the salad. 

Vinaigrette

1 tbsp olive oil

1-2 tsp rice wine vinegar

salt

pepper

Whisk and toss the salad.

I no longer buy tomato sauce because the cans usually list the contents as : tomato paste, stock, water. I can do that myself and save $1.50. I tried using chicken stock but it really doesn't tomato very well. Beef stock works much better. A little beef stock ramps up and enhances the tomato flavour. Campbell's has come out with a no salt added beef stock which is very good, the regular stock has far too much salt.

Salt some water and get the pasta boiling.

Start by sweating an onion. then adding garlic. I take the tails off my prawns and make sure the poop is actually cleaned out. Add the prawns to the onion and garlic with some salt and as soon as they have colour, turn them over. Let the other side get a little colour then add 1/4 cup beef stock and 1/4 cup water. Then add half a can of tomato paste and stir it in. Add more stock and water till the sauce is the right consistency and more importantly, tastes good. When you have the sauce right, add fresh or dried basil. When the pasta is ready, drain it and stir it into the sauce. Plate the pasta and sauce and top with fresh grated parmesan.