A quick and easy lemony, garlicky, chilli, prawn pasta. I make this when I have very little time but want a healthy, zingy option. Black bean pasta is a really nice change from regular pasta and also great if you want to eat less carbs! It cooks in the same time as regular pasta and looks beautiful on the plate.
You are not going to cook a faster pasta than this! Lemon, garlic, chilli, to me this screams Italy!
I was inspired to make this dish after spending 5 days in a very lovely, quiet area of Sardinia, Italy. Basically, we decided to drive around the entire island and one day after we had driven for hours and hours and hours without a hotel in sight, winding around these crazy little single dirt roads, we finally happened upon a very secluded hotel. Thank Goodness! Memory tells me this was on the South-West side of the Island. Sadly I cannot remember the name of the hotel, but it was remote, overlooked a long beach and was run by an older Italian lady who spoke no english and who had a lot of cats and who we called ‘Mama Italia‘ – hmmm yeah original I know!
Anyway, finally we had a room and we were famished and so we sat on the balcony of her little restaurant and kind of fumbled our way around the menu. Thankfully, there are so many foods in English that are Italian words that you can actually make your way around Italy pretty easily ordering stuff, e.g. ‘Pasta‘, ‘Pizza’, you get my drift! So that night she made us fresh pasta smothered in, lemony, garlicky, prawns in olive oil with just a hint of chilli.
And as it turned out, Mama Italia was one kick ass cook! She made us some incredible dishes each night, probably not at all what we ordered, but we didn’t care as she cooked the best food in Italy, hands down.
So here is my nod to Mama Italia’s dish.
I hope you love it!
Enjoy!
- 3 Tbsp good quality olive oil
- zest from 2 lemons
- 2 red chillies, chopped (de-seeded for a less spicy option)
- ½ tsp crushed garlic
- 3 large handfuls rocket
- 1 packet black bean pasta
- salt, for seasoning
- pepper, for seasoning
- 20 King prawns (you can use frozen prawns but de-frost them first)
- Cook the black bean pasta as per packet instructions.
- Heat the olive oil in a pan and add the garlic and fry, on a low heat, until garlic is soft and aromatic but not browned.
- Add in the lemon zest, chillies and king prawns and cook until the king prawns have a lovely orange colour and are cooked through (about 7 minutes).
- By this stage your pasta should be cooked. Drain the pasta and then add the pasta and the rocket to the pan and toss until all of the pasta is coated with the olive oil mixture.
- Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
- Serve and add an extra few leaves or raw rocket and a sprinkle of parmesan cheese (for a dairy option).
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