Ninna nanna marinare...

As promised, here is the Four-Step Prawn Pasta I was telling you about yesterday. This is the dish I usually order whenever I eat out in an Italian restaurant.

I love prawns and sea food. I always buy them fresh and cook them the day I have bought them. They also keep well in the freezer, but really, they taste better fresh. 

I cooked this dish in summer, but it suits any season and the ingredients you need are quite easy to find.

      

Shopping list

~  1 packet of languini, spaghetti or spaghettoni

~  fresh tomatoes or a can of Cirio

~  a bag of baby spinach

~  fresh prawns

~  a tray of mushrooms- for this recipe you'll need a handful though

~ a bottle of white wine

You will also need

fresh garlic

herbs: basil, rosemary, sage, 

extra virgin olive oil

salt

brown sugar

Preparation

Tomato sauce: dice the tomatoes, add the salt, a pinch of brown sugar, garlic, herbs. Reduce.

Pasta: boil in salted water, season the water with herbs and garlic. Your pasta will have a je ne sais quoi yummy taste and if you have guests for lunch or dinner they will all want to know the secret!

Prawns: shell them first, wash them and toss them in freshly crushed garlic and sweet paprika (to enhance their 

beautiful colour), then stir-fry them for a minute. Set aside to cool.

Method

In a separate wok fry the mushrooms, let them brown & soften and then add the prawns and the spinach. 

Add some white wine (the rest, keep chilled in the fridge).

Incorporate the pasta and mix lightly.

Before serving, add a couple of spoons of your own tomato paste and serve with the chilled wine. 

Just a thought...

Never use ready-made ketchup when you make pasta. It tastes foul. Always try to go for local, natural, sustainable ingredients.

When you go shopping for wine, do your homework and read about different wine regions and grapes. In the supermarket, take your time and read the labels. Don't go for the cheapest wines, but not for the top of the range either unless you are a fin connaisseur. The best discoveries are middle-of-the-road price wise. 

Romania produces excellent reds, but also whites.  For this dish I would go for a wine called Frunza Chardonnay. It's a fresh wine with undertones of vanilla, prunes and acacia.  Serve chilled and don't mix it with soda to make spritz.

Wine gives me a slight headache, so I never have more than half a glass, but the upside is that I have a clear head and I get to assess the textures and the bouquet of each sip. :)

Ninna nanna marinare is a verse from Pink Martini Ninna Nanna song. It means "sleep, sleep sailor" and it goes on like this.

On the boat, in the middle of the sea

I speak to you, but you don't answer

You are lost in your dreams