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full plate of creamy garlic prawn pasta

Creamy garlic prawn pasta

Silky, creamy and so much flavour! Impress yourself by making this super easy, creamy garlic prawn pasta! Done in 20 minutes.
4.75 from 31 votes
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Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
Servings: 3 people
Calories: 433kcal

Ingredients

  • 200 g /7oz dried spaghetti fettuccine or linguine works great too
  • 200 g /7oz peeled, deveined prawns/shrimp (note 1)
  • 3 tablespoon heavy/thickened cream (note 2)
  • 3 cloves garlic large, minced
  • ½ cup chicken or vegetable stock or dry white wine (note 3)
  • 250 g /9oz cherry tomatoes halved
  • 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  • salt and pepper to taste

To serve

  • fresh parsley finely sliced
  • freshly grated parmesan cheese (note 4)

Instructions

  • Cook pasta according to packet instructions, to al dente and reserve ¼ cup of pasta cooking water. (note 5)
  • Whilst pasta is cooking, marinate the prawns by adding ⅓ of minced garlic, 1 tablespoon of olive oil, salt and pepper to the prawns. Mix thoroughly and set aside for 3 - 5 minutes.
  • In a large, non-stick pan or skillet, add remaining olive oil and garlic and cook on medium heat for 1 - 2 minutes or until garlic fragrant.
  • Add marinated prawns into the pan and turn the heat up to medium-high. Turn the prawns over after 1 minute with a pair of tongs. Cook the other side for another minute.
  • Add cherry tomatoes into the pan and mix for 1 minute. Remove the prawns from the pan and set aside.
  • Pour stock (or white wine if using) into the pan and reduce by half. Keep the heat on high.
  • Pour heavy/thickened cream in and immediately reduce heat down to low and bring to a simmer.
  • Add prawns back into the pan together with cooked pasta. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Mix thoroughly. Add a little pasta cooking water if needed. (note 5)
  • To serve, sprinkle parsley and lots of parmesan cheese!

Video

Notes

Note 1. Peeled, deveined prawns if using frozen, ensure to defrost before cooking and marinating. 
If you have the patience and using fresh, whole prawns, this is how you peel and devein at home:
  • Lightly twist off the head. If they're super fresh, the vein may come out too.
  • Peel the shells and legs off the prawns. I always start from the legs and most of the times the shells come off together.
  • Carefully, make an incision along the back of the prawn with a small knife. The safest way is by laying the prawn down on its side and cut the incision.
  • Scrape off the vein with the tip of your knife.
 
Note 2. Heavy/thickened cream is best for this recipe as light or even normal cream do not provide the light thick, creamy consistency when mixed with other ingredients. 
Note 3. Chicken or vegetable stock use either fresh or stock powders. I used stock powder as they're economical and a great pantry item. 
Note 4. Grated parmesan cheese where possible, always grate your own cheese. Grated cheeses from stores all have added anti-caking agent (to stop them from sticking together) which don't melt as well. Plus the anti-caking agent gives the cheeses a bit of a grainy texture. 
Note 5a. Reserve pasta cooking water comes in handy when making any pasta dish. Add a little to help loosen the pasta where necessary. Upon testing this recipe, I didn't need to use the pasta cooking water due to the liquids from stock, cherry tomato juices and cream. However, it is good practice to reserve some in case you do! 
Note 5b. Cook pasta to al dente just means stop cooking when the pasta is almost done and has a bit of a bite when eaten. The pasta will continue to cook in the creamy garlic prawn sauce thus will be cooked to perfection!
Tried this recipe?Mention @Casuallypeckish or tag #casuallypeckish!

Nutrition

Calories: 433kcal | Carbohydrates: 54.6g | Protein: 17.4g | Fat: 16.5g | Saturated Fat: 5.1g | Cholesterol: 21mg | Potassium: 327mg | Fiber: 3.2g | Sugar: 4.1g | Calcium: 40mg | Iron: 2mg