We have a few go-to pasta recipes in our house, and today I am sharing one of my sister’s classic recipes. Hannah has been making this for my mum and I for a long time, and it only occurred to us last week to write it down, as mum wanted to make it for herself during lockdown.
Like most Italian dishes it’s not overly complicated but requires top-quality ingredients to make it shine. There’s a technique to making the silky sauce from the cherry tomatoes and Han has got it down to a tee. If you don’t have sherry you can substitute for dry white wine. Just buy the best quality tomatoes you can get your hands on!
Here’s how she does it. This recipe serves two.
Ingredients
- 6oz of spaghetti (about 170g)
- 1 punnet of good quality cherry tomatoes
- 1 red chilli, de-seeded
- 2/3 cloves of garlic crushed
- Chopped parsley
- Glug of sherry (around 50ml)
- King prawns
- 1 knob of butter
- Handful of Parmesan
Method
- Put the pasta on to boil.
- Put a large, lidded frying pan on a high heat with a good splash of olive oil.
- Once hot, add the garlic and chilli and reduce heat to medium. Fry off until they soften.
- Add half the chopped parsley, cherry tomatoes and sherry and leave to simmer for 3 mins without the lid. Then add the lid and leave until the tomatoes become soft, mixing every few mins.
- After 10 mins or so the tomatoes should be soft. Using a potato masher gently squish them so they pop, and stir thoroughly. Add 2/3 tablespoons of pasta water (depending on how juicy the tomatoes are).
- Add the king prawns to the tomato sauce and put the lid back on until they are just cooked through.
- Drain the pasta (once ready) but keep some of the water to one side.
- When the prawns are cooked add a small knob of butter and the rest of the chopped parsley.
- Stir in the pasta bit by bit making sure the pasta is fully coated with the sauce.
- Divide across two warm pasta bowls, top with grated Parmesan and enjoy!
