The delicious prawn and dill pasta is one of our all-time favourites, and much like Goa, it’s a perfect blend of taste and cultures.
One of the best things about this particular recipe is that you can play around with the flavours and ingredients – you can go with parsley and chicken, fish, or even clams. Usually if it’s seafood pasta, we don’t serve it with cheese since the seafood already adds a distinct flavour, though it’s entirely up to you to take that call.
Ingredients
- Medium sized prawns: 8 pieces, deshelled and deveined
- Garlic: ½ tbsp, finely diced
- Onion: 1 tbsp, finely diced
- Extra Virgin Olive oil: 3 tbsp
- White wine: 60 ml
- Dill: 2tbsp, freshly chopped
- Lemon Juice: 2tbsp, preferably freshly squeezed
- Aromat seasoning: ½ tbsp
- Chili powder: 1 pinch
- Ground pepper: 1 pinch
- Butter: 1 tbsp
- Cooked Spaghetti
- Salt To Taste
Method
Start with approximately a 1 and a ½ tbsp of olive oil and add the finely diced garlic and onions into the pan. Fry mix on low flame till you see the ingredients turning warm golden brown in colour. At this point add the white wine into the mix and let it simmer for a bit and keep stirring the mix.
Once the ingredients release their aroma, you’ll be able to smell the flavours and that’s the perfect time to add the prawns. Place the prawns gently on the pan, one by one. Turn the heat very low and cover the pan with a lid. Let this simmer for a bit, and when you see the prawns turning pink, remove the lid and turn them on the other side. This way the prawns are more steamed than fried, and maintain their juiciness. Replace the lid and leave the pan to simmer for another minute or two.
Take the pan off the flame, and add 2 tbsp of lemon juice and a pinch of chili to taste – remember that the chili should not taste separately, but will add that underlying zing to the flavours. Then add a pinch of pepper powder and some aromat seasoning. Mix the flavours well in the pan (which is off the flame at this point) and add the freshly chopped dill into the mix.
Now add some butter into the mix and let it melt by itself from the heat of the prawns, there is no need to heat the pan anymore. Layer this with a spoonful of olive oil and mix it well. You may also want to add a pinch of salt to taste.
Now add 1 portion of freshly cooked pasta. Contrary to popular belief, you don’t necessarily need to add oil into the water when cooking your pasta. Since oil and water don’t really mix, this does not have any impact on whether your pasta sticks together or not. The best way to ensure that your pasta does not stick together is to add the oil once you’ve taken it out of the boiling water.
Mix the pasta well and your prawn and dill pasta is ready to plate and serve!
Enjoy your prawn and dill pasta, and let us know how it went!
How to tell if the prawns you’re buying are fresh?
One of the most important things to note while you’re buying prawns is to make sure that they’re fresh – you can tell this by checking if the whole prawn is firm (and not squishy). If it’s not been frozen, also check for the eyes – they should be clear. If the shell is soft and soggy, it’s a definite indicator that the prawns have been lying in cold storage for a while and it’s best to avoid this kind.
Quick tip from Kaii: The water you cook your pasta in can heavily influence the taste of your pasta, so what we do is we add some herbs and some salt to taste in the water. This adds a subtle flavour to the pasta itself and takes your dish to whole another level.
