Under the sea

Michelle Phetlhe | Tuesday December 19, 2023 08:22

 

There’s an element of fool proof (anyone can make it ).

Seafood......I love seafood, I always kick myself for not having been adventurous with it when I lived in Cape Town during my varsity years. I feel like my seafood knowledge and types I have eaten are very limited.

I remember enjoying mom’s mussels growing up, not too sure when I encountered prawns and sushi.

But these are some of my favourites. My kids also enjoy seafood and I am so grateful that no one is allergic.....it works against me when I have eight pieces of sushi and they believe we should share it four ways. Depending on how I feel, I might give them one piece each. I have had a weird appetite as of late, so when I had this creamy prawn pasta craving, I jumped to get ingredients.

The boys were too excited. When I dished they stood over my shoulder asking for “just one more” prawn. Give this simple dish a place on your dinning table. If you are allergic to seafood or are not sure, please substitute the prawns with chicken. It’ll be as amazing. Do not forget to join the Ultra Mel Trifle Competition running on the ChellzKitchen page where you could win BIG cash prizes. Keep safe over this holiday period. We are sending lots of love, prayers and well wishes to you, our readers and your families.

Ingredients 250g tagliatelle, or other long strand pasta of choice 30 g/2 tbsp butter 300g small peeled prawns/shrimp 3 garlic cloves, minced 1 cup/250ml cream 1/2 cup/125 ml chicken broth or water 3/4 cup/50g grated parmesan cheese 2 tbsp finely chopped parsley Black pepper Parmesan, for serving

Instructions Bring to boil a large pot of water. Add pasta and cook per packet Just before draining, scoop out one cup of pasta cooking water and set aside. Drain pasta. Meanwhile, melt one tbsp of butter in a large pan over medium to high heat. Add prawns and cook for 1 1/2 minutes on each side until just cooked through.

Remove prawns. In the same pan, add one tbsp butter. Once melted, add garlic. Stir for 20 seconds until fragrant. Add cream, broth and parmesan. Stir until the parmesan is melted, then leave to simmer for 1 1/2 minutes until it thickens slightly. Add prawns, stir, then add pasta plus about 1/4 cup of reserved pasta water.

Toss pasta, the sauce will thicken in about 30-45 seconds and start clinging to the pasta. Take it off the stove before the sauce gets too thick Sprinkle with most of the parsley and black pepper, check salt. Toss again until the sauce consistency is to your taste. Add a tiny splash of pasta water if it gets too thick. Serve immediately, garnished with remaining parsley and parmesan if you’d like to.