Pasta is definitely a staple dish in my house, I love handmade pasta but sometimes after a long day you’re looking for a quick, tasty meal and dry pasta does the job perfectly.

This is one of my top go to pasta dishes, you can knock it together in under 15 minutes, it tastes fantastic and isn’t too harsh on the waste line.

Italian’s will be in uproar around the world as I commit one of the cardinal sins of adding parmesan to a shellfish dish and whilst I bow to their culinary prowess, on this one we’ll have to agree to disagree. In my book, cheese always makes things better!

You can replace the prawn and/or the chorizo with basically anything but I find these two pair brilliantly and make for a light dish where another meat like beef would make this a lot heavier and more a winter delight.

Serves 4

Ingredients;

  • 1 Tbsp. Olive Oil
  • 1-2 Shallots
  • 1 Red Chilli
  • 2 cloves of Garlic
  • Zest & juice of 1 whole Lemon
  • 2 Anchovy fillets
  • 100g Cooking Chorizo
  • 240g King Prawns
  • 500g Cherry Tomatoes
  • ½ Tbsp. Sherry Vinegar
  • 2 Tsp. Brown Sugar
  • 50g Finely grated Parmesan Cheese
  • 1 handful roughly chopped Flat Leaf Parsley
  • 300g Spaghetti
  • Sea Salt
  • Black Pepper

Method;

When I am making a quick dinner I find it easiest to prepare everything first, so start by filling a large saucepan with water and bringing it to the boil. While the water is heating up finely chop Shallots, Garlic, Chilli and Zest the Lemon. Next slice into quarters about ¾ of the Cherry Tomatoes (I like to leave some whole for different texture) and then slice the Chorizo into small chunks. Grate the Parmesan into a bowl & roughly chop the Flat Leaf Parsley. Now you’re good to go!

Once the water is boiling add a pinch of Sea Salt and a drizzle of Olive Oil and place the Pasta in to cook as per packet instructions (usually 10 minutes).

While the Pasta is cooking, heat up another saucepan and add in the Olive Oil along with the Chorizo and let simmer for a couple of minutes. Next add in the Shallots, Garlic, Chilli, Anchovies & Lemon Zest and continue to fry for a few minutes. Add in 1 to 2 ladles of the Pasta Water and allow to simmer for a couple more minutes. Pour in the Cherry Tomatoes and another ladle of Pasta Water and let simmer for 5 minutes. Add in ½ Tbsp. Sherry Vinegar & 2 Tsp. Brown Sugar and mix well.

Check on the Pasta – if it is cooked then drain in a colander but first make sure you reserve 1 cup full of Pasta water!

While the Pasta is draining finish off the sauce – add in the Prawns along with the juice of the lemon and give it a good stir so it is all combined. Add the drained Pasta to the Sauce and sprinkle in 1 handful of the grated Parmesan and ¾ of the Chopped Parsley. Give it all a good stir to ensure all the Pasta is covered and mixed in well. Add in the last ladle of reserved Pasta water to the sauce along with the remaining Parmesan & top with Parsley and Black Pepper.

Tips;

  • This sauce is delicious with White Wine – you can substitute the Pasta water at the start and when you’re due to add the Pasta water to the Chorizo, Shallot, Garlic etc whilst it’s frying just add in 1 glass of White Wine instead.
  • It’s important to add the rest of the Pasta Water at the end as this has plenty of starch and so enriches the sauce, and makes it stick to the pasta.
  • I realise it is controversial to add Parmesan to Seafood and usually I would be very against it, but in this recipe it works!
  • If you don’t like Prawns you can also substitute them for Chicken – it is just as nice, if you do this would switch out the Spaghetti for Penne!