Spicy Prawn Linguine

Never throw out your prawn heads! They are the best and quickest way to add flavour to your sauce. Rendering these down with olive oil creates a bright orange prawn oil that is the perfect base for your sauce!

Serves- 2
Ingredients- 13
Cooking Time- 30 minutes
Skill Level- Easy

Ingredients

• 200g of linguine
• 300g of raw prawns, shelled and deveined
• The reserved prawn heads of your shelled prawns (approx. 15)
• 4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon of my homemade Chilli Oil or 1 teaspoon of dried chilli flakes
• 1 tablespoon of tomato paste
• 1 can (400ml) of crushed tomatoes
• 1 punnet of cherry tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon of anchovy paste or 2 teaspoons of fish sauce, optional
• 1 tablespoon of sugar
• 1 small bunch of curly parsley, finely chopped
• 1 small bunch of fresh basil

Method

1. Peel & devein 300g of prawns, don't throw out the prawn heads these will become the base of the sauce. 
2. Heat a large pan with oil and once hot, add in the prawn heads cooking for 5 minutes or until the prawn heads are golden brown and the oil turns orange.
3. Remove the prawn heads and cook the 4 finely chopped garlic cloves and chilli oil for 1 minute on medium.
4. Meanwhile boil a pot of salted water and cook your linguine till al dente.
5. Add in 1 tablespoon of tomato paste and cook for another minute on medium and then add in 1 can of crushed tomatoes and bring to the boil.
6. Add in 1 punnet of cherry tomatoes, half of the parsley, 1 teaspoon of anchovy paste/fish sauce and cook for 5 minutes on medium or until the tomatoes start to soften and blister.
7. Taste your sauce and season with sugar to balance the acidity of the tomatoes as well as some salt and pepper to taste.
8. Add in your prawns, cooking for 1 minute before adding in the linguine with some pasta water and cooking for a further minute to allow the linguine to soak up some of the sauce.
9. Turn off the heat and stir in the remaining parsley and fresh basil leaves.