Lemon & White Wine Prawn Pasta

This recipe was developed with three of my favorite Mediterranean things in mind: pasta, seafood and good white wine. It’s light, yet bright, lemony, yet creamy and the gentle sweetness from the prawns bring everything together. To make the sauce, I use a good dry Sauvignon Blanc from L’Avenir, a South African wine estate located in Stellenbosch, Western Cape. I prefer Sauvignon Blanc as it is light and bright with undertones of Cape gooseberries, granadilla and green apples – the perfect pairing with crustacean.

This recipe, as most recipes on this Blog, is easy to make. However, many new cooks fear the cook of seafood and crustacean, something that I think is completely unnecessary! There really is one rule that you need to remember when cooking any seafood and that is to resist the urge to overcook seafood. Overcooking seafood is the only way that you can ruin fish and crustacean. My advice when cooking seafood is to follow the recipe to the letter when it comes to cooking time. That said, always ensure your recipe is from a recognized source.  Another thing to remember is to never, ever, cook seafood from its frozen state. If you have no other option than to use frozen ingredients, fish and crustacean needs to be defrost and completely dried to prevent the seafood from steaming (which will result in overcooking) rather than caramelizing. Damp or frozen seafood will never get the coloration that we’re after. Lastly, I like to use a combination of olive oil and butter when cooking crustacean as the butter ensures coloration and flavor while the oil prevent the butter from burning on my searing hot cast iron griddle.

I wish to urge you, no matter your level of experience, to try this recipe and to master the cook of prawns. A little bit of practice goes a long way when working with seafood and reward will be well worth it.

Lemon & White Wine Prawn Pasta

Stéan Kruger

This recipe was developed with three of my favorite Mediterranean things in mind: pasta, seafood and good white wine. It's light, yet bright, lemony, yet creamy and the gentle sweetness from the prawns bring everything together. To make the sauce, I use a good dry Sauvignon Blanc from L'Avenir, a South African wine estate located in Stellenbosch, Western Cape. I prefer Sauvignon Blanc as it is light and bright with undertones of Cape gooseberries, granadilla and green apples - the perfect pairing with crustacean.

My advice when cooking seafood is to follow the recipe to the letter when it comes to cooking time. That said, always ensure your recipe is from a recognized source.  Another thing to remember is to never, ever, cook seafood from its frozen state. If you have no other option than to use frozen ingredients, fish and crustacean needs to be defrost and completely dried to prevent the seafood from steaming (which will result in overcooking) rather than caramelizing. Damp or frozen seafood will never get the coloration that we're after. Lastly, I like to use a combination of olive oil and butter when cooking crustacean as the butter ensures coloration and flavor while the oil prevent the butter from burning on my searing hot cast iron griddle.

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Prep Time 20 mins

Cook Time 5 mins

Course Lunch, Supper

Cuisine Mediterranean

Servings 4

Ingredients

  

• 3 tsp butter
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 600 g fresh prawns sustainably sourced, completely dried
• 1 lemon juiced
• 500 g fusilli pasta cooked al dente, reserve pasta water
• 2 cloves garlic finely minced
• ½ cup white wine
• 2 tsp lemon zest
• 1 tsp flour
• ½ cup parmesan grated
• ½ cup pasta water
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup fresh parsley plus some for garnish finely chopped
• lemon wedges to serve
• 200 g bok choy halved over the length
• salt & pepper

Instructions

 

• For the pasta, add 1 tsp lemon zest to boiling water and cook according to package instructions until al dente.
• For the prawns, ensure the prawns is completely thawed and dried well with paper towel.
• To marinate the prawns, add the olive, 1 clove of garlic and chopped parsley to a bowl with the prawns. Season well with salt and pepper. Allow to marinate for 15 minutes. In the meanwhile, heat a dry cast iron skillet/ griddle over high heat. You want the pan to be sizzling hot.
• To cook the prawns, divide the prawns into 3 batches to prevent crowding the pan. This is important, if the pan is crowded the prawns will steam and boil rather than caramelize - it is easy to overcook the prawns this way.

  Using tongs, shake off any excess marinade and place the prawns into the skillet. Add 1 tsp of butter with each new batch. Spread the prawns out so that there is enough space between each prawn. Do not stir as this will prevent the prawns from coloring - turn only once and cook for no longer than 2 minutes per side. Drizzle with lemon juice and put aside.

  Do not be tempted to overcook the prawns - it will be pink on the outside and opaque in the center when cooked.
• Turn the heat to medium and to the same skillet, add the remaining garlic, leftover marinade, butter and lemon zest. Cook for 2 minutes. Add the wine and deglaze the skillet - this means to scrape down all the bits sticking to the base of the skillet. Add the flour and parmesan and cook for another 2 minutes. Whisk in the pasta water and simmer for 5 minutes or until slightly thickened. Season with salt and pepper.

  Turn off the heat and stir in the cream, cooked pasta and prawns. Set aside for 2 minutes to allow the prawns and pasta to heat through. Sprinkle over some fresh parsley and arrange lemon wedges on the platter.
• For the bok choy, over high heat, heat 1 tsp of olive -or peanut oil in a skillet/ pan. Add the halved bok choy to the skillet, cut side down. Stir fry for no longer than 3 minutes. Do not overcook the bok choy - the bok choy must be still be bright green and only slightly browned. Season well and serve alongside the pasta.

Notes

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Stéan Kruger Photography & The Photographer's Blog: https://linktr.ee/Stean_Kruger

Keyword lemon, mediterranean, parmesan tuile, pasta, prawn, sauvignon blanc, seafoof, white wine