Prawn Linguine Pasta Gambero (Quick, 15 Minutes)

Recipe: Prawn Linguine Pasta Gambero Recipe »

Prawn linguine or pasta ai gamberi is a wonderful recipe for you want a 15 minute meal that is healthy, delicious and a fraction of the price of a restaurant or takeaway meal. This prawn linguine recipe has just a few ingredients but tastes like you ordered it at a restaurant!

About This Prawn Linguine Pasta ai Gamberi

Prawn or shrimp linguine is a popular dish in Veneto and Liguria in Italy, due to their proximity to the Adriatic sea and the Ligurian sea. It is made with fresh prawns or shrimp and a tomato based sauce made with fresh basil. It is often paired with long pasta like linguine, spaghetti or angel hair pasta. This recipe is for a very quick version that takes only 15 minutes and is perfect for a weeknight dinner.

Ingredients for Prawn Pasta

• Dried linguine - you can also use fresh linguine which only takes a few minutes to cook. I actually prefer fresh linguine to dried! Sub with spaghetti or any long pasta.
• Extra virgin olive oil - For Italian recipes nothing beats extra virgin olive oil. The quantity seems like a lot but don't skimp on this as it is what makes the sauce so luscious and moreish.
• Garlic - use two large cloves.
• Chilli - for this recipe use fresh red chilli. Use a large one (or even half of one) if you don't want it too spicy or use a small red chilli if you like it spicy.
• White wine - a dry white wine is great. I use everything from a pinot gris to a chardonnay.
• Basil leaves - choose large, fresh basil leaves (omit stalks).
• Tinned diced tomatoes - If your tinned tomatoes are whole and peeled, blitz them first to give them a smooth texture. This recipe is designed for quick cooking sodiced tomatoes are best.
• Dried oregano - just to give the dish a bit more complexity.
• Salt, black pepper and sugar - tinned tomatoes always need some seasoning so add all three to your taste. The amount of sugar depends on how sweet the tomatoes are.
• Raw prawns - use banana or king prawns, heads and shells removed but tails intact. When buying ask for around 200g/7ozs weight with the shells on or 120g/4ozs peeled prawns). If you use smaller prawns, they will cook in less time.
• Lemon zest - for that final fresh flourish that you cannot beat!

Tips For Making Prawn Linguine Pasta ai Gamberi

1 - The recipe below is for one person but this recipe is easily scalable and can easily be double, tripled or quadrupled!

2 - Remove the heads from the prawns but don't butterfly them. I found that when I did butterfly them they cooked more and I really dislike overcooked prawns. Prawns only take 2-3 minutes to cook through for medium to large sized prawns.

3 - When the pasta has finished cooking, I pick it up with tongs from the pot and add the pasta to the saucepan of sauce. That way you don't drain the pasta water in case you need some to thin out the sauce.

4 - You can replace the tinned tomatoes with your favourite pasta sauce but the pasta sauce doesn't need as much time to cook or reduce down as it has already been cooked down. If anything, you may need a bit more pasta cooking water, up to 1/4 to 1/2 a cup.

5 - This dish is lightly spicy. If you don't like it too spicy use large red chillies and use half the chilli. If you are using a pre-made pasta sauce, use a mild one like Napoletana sauce.

6 - You can replace the linguine with spaghetti or another long pasta like mafalde or angel hair pasta. Or you can also use a short pasta too like trofie or shells.

7 - The lemon zest really brings out the flavour of the seafood and elevates it. Don't forget this! :)

Prawn Linguine Pasta Gambero Recipe

An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott

Recipe Overview

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 12 minutes concurrently

Makes 1 serve

Ingredients Needed

• 100g/3.5ozs dried linguine
• 50ml/1.7fozs extra virgin olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 large chilli, sliced (or 1 small depending on how hot you like it)
• 50ml/1.7flozs white wine
• 10 basil leaves
• 250ml/8.8ozs tinned diced tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• Salt and pepper
• 1/2-1 teaspoon sugar (to taste)
• 6-8 raw banana or king prawns, heads and shells removed but tails intact (around 200g/7ozs shells on or 120g/4ozs peeled)
• 1-2 tablespoons pasta cooking water
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest

Step-By-Step Instructions

Step 1 - Prep your ingredients for your mise en place. Then place the linguine to cook in a pot of salted, boiling water. Set timer to 11 minutes (or the time that your linguine packet says).

Step 2 - When the pasta has 6 minutes to go, place a frying pan onto medium heat and add the oil. Fry the garlic and chilli for 30 seconds. Add the white wine and cook for 30 seconds and then add the basil and diced tomatoes. Simmer while stirring occasionally, for 4 minutes where it will reduce and become glossy. Add oregano and season with salt, pepper and sugar to taste. When the timer has 2 minutes to go, add the prawns and toss to cook through (start at 3 minutes for king prawns).

Step 3 - By now the pasta should be ready. With tongs add the pasta to the frypan tossing to coat in the sauce. Adding extra pasta water if it needs it. Grate lemon zest over and plate up!

Personal Note

I was talking to a woman at an event and she lamented the amount of takeaway that she bought in the last few months. She lived mostly alone - she had a flatmate that had entirely different hours from her so they never ate or cooked together - they were like ships passing each other at night.

She wanted a dish that she could cook for herself. She didn't mind making a little detour at the supermarket (where like many of us, she would resist the lure of the rotisserie chicken display) but she wanted something home made but delicious. This recipe is for you Corrine! This recipe serves one but is easily doubled or even quadrupled.

The price of pasta dishes is kind of crazy in Sydney. You can pay up to $45 for a plate of pasta. The only reason why we keep going back is because pasta is incredible and once you eat it, you're placated by good mood carbs. But I promise that even the prawns at this quantity won't set you back that much and within 15 minutes you'll have a delicious meal waiting for you.

So tell me Dear Reader, do you cook for just yourself or do you cook for others on an everyday basis?