Chilli Prawn Pasta

The Hairy Dieters include two types of Chilli Prawn Pasta recipes within their six healthy eating books. I opted to make the one from their fourth Fast Food book because you can include 50ml of vodka in it. Now, what to do with the remaining bottle? Wahahaha ;-). For reference, you’ll find the other recipe in their more recent ‘Make it Easy’ book.

The vodka is optional by the way, so don’t worry if you haven’t got any, or don’t want to go to the expense of buying in a bottle especially just for this . The meal will still taste great regardless, but the addition of the vodka will bring more depth of flavour to the sauce and balance out the sweetness of the red pepper and the passata.

For other seafood-based pasta recipes, have a look at spaghetti with broccoli & anchovies, spaghetti with prawns and courgettes, pasta with clams and bacon or pasta puttanesca. Or if seafood isn’t your thing, you’re bound to find a more appealing pasta recipe here.

Recipe: Chilli Prawn Pasta

Calories: 341 per serving

Serves: 4

Book: Hairy Dieters – Fast food

Prep time: Approx 20 minutes

Cooking time: Approx 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• Flaked sea salt
• 200g spaghetti
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 small onion (finely chopped)
• 1 red pepper (deseeded and finely chopped)
• 2 garlic cloves (finely chopped)
• 1 tsp chilli flakes
• Grated zest of 1 lime
• Ground black pepper
• 100ml hot fish or vegetable stock
• 250ml tomato passata
• 50ml vodka (optional)
• 400g shelled raw prawns (defrosted if frozen)
• A small bunch of coriander or basil
• Lime wedges, for serving

Cost per portion: Approx £2.27

Method:

Start by putting a full kettle of water on to boil. Pour the boiled water into a large pan, put a lid on and bring the water back to the boil. Season with plenty of salt, then add the spaghetti. Cook for 10-12 minutes until the pasta is tender but still has a little bite to it, then drain.

Heat the olive oil in a large lidded frying pan, then add the onion and red pepper along with a splash of water. Cover the pan and cook over a medium heat until the veg are starting to soften. Add the garlic, chilli flakes and lime zest, then season with salt and pepper. Pour the stock into the pan, put the lid back on and cook the sauce for another 5 minutes

Pour in the passata and simmer for a further 5 minutes. Add the vodka, if using, then simmer for a minute or so more. Throw in the prawns and cook until they have just turned pink and opaque – they should still be quite bouncy.

Serve the sauce with the pasta and a sprinkling of coriander or basil to garnish. Add some lime wedges for everyone to squeeze over.