Tagliatelle With Prawns, Bacon and Courgette...
Tagliatelle With Prawns, Bacon and Courgette
Yesterday there was a lonely courgette in the fridge and a bag of prawns defrosting on the counter. I was unsure of what to make for dinner, but bringing these two ingredients together seemed like a good plan. With plenty of pasta in the pantry, I was thinking along the lines of a big bowl of penne or linguine in a rich creamy sauce.
Looking for inspiration on the Internet I came across a fabulous site called Drizzle and Drip. Sam’s recipe for Chilli and Garlic Prawn Linguine with Bacon, Zucchini and Lemon caught my eye straight away. Of course I needed to pick up some bacon but as our local butchers has the best smoked bacon I have ever tasted, I was more then happy to make the journey. The fresh air made me even hungrier (I must confess one of their freshly made sausage rolls found it’s way into my belly).
I didn’t follow Sam’s recipe exactly but it still tasted great. This is a recipe I will make time and time again. It is light, refreshing and makes a nice change from the heavy cream sauces I tend to favour (butter, cream and cheese are the holy trinity of my sauce making).
What also appealed to me was the way the courgette / zucchini was prepared. I have grated it in pasta before but the long ribbons worked really well with the tagliatelle. I was also skeptical about adding the courgette ribbons to the pasta water toward the end of cooking fearing they would be extra watery and bland. They weren’t.
So here is my version of the recipe but please do check out Sam’s website, she has a wide range of yummy looking recipes I can’t wait to try.
Tagliatelle With Prawns, Bacon and Courgette (serves 2 with enough left over for a tasty lunch the next day)
Ingredients
350-400 grams of tagliatelle
225 grams of frozen king prawns
3 rashers of smoked streaky bacon (and one sausage roll to eat on the way home!)
1 medium sized courgette / zucchini
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 tsp of crushed chilli flakes
2 Tbsp of double cream
2 Tbsp of lemon zest
Juice of 1/2 a lemon (you might want to do this to taste)
3 Tbsp of chopped flat leaf parsley
Splash of olive oil
Salt and Pepper to taste (I only salted the pasta water – the bacon is quite salty)
Directions
Cook the tagliatelle in salted water according to the directions on the pack (go for al dente)
Using a peeler, peel the courgette into ribbons
When the pasta is almost done, but not quite, add the courgette ribbons to the water and cook with the pasta for 1-2 minutes before draining
While the pasta is cooking cut the bacon rashers into small bite sized pieces and add to a pan
Cook the bacon through and then add the drained, frozen prawns and mix well so the prawns soak up some of the bacon fat
After 2-3 minutes when the prawns are heated through and the bacon is crispy, add the crushed garlic, 1/2 tsp of dried chilli flakes, lemon juice and zest
Mix everything together well before adding a splash of double cream and the chopped parsley
The pasta (and courgette) should be cooked and drained at this point
Simply add the pasta and courgette to the pan with the bacon and prawn mixture
Toss well and serve immediately
Enjoy!
