Linguine with tiger Prawns, garlic, lemon and chili

Barefoot Contessa and her appreciative
 and affectionate husband

I first saw this dish prepared by Ina Garten on her cooking programme "Barefoot Contessa". I love watching her cook and and am always amused by her husband Jefferys consistent surprise by her fabulous food creations, which almost always ends up in some cringeworthy smooching. But, this jolly gyrating cook has some fabulous recipes and this one stood out for me. 

It has been adapted slightly of course. I love the contrast of flavors, the sweetness of the prawns against the citricy lemon, coupled with the fiery heat from the chili, softened by the luscious butter. And then of course, lots of garlic, which makes everything good. It's a winner of a dish and genuinely one of my favourite meals to cook (incidentally it takes about 8 minutes)

Linguine with tiger Prawns, garlic, lemon and chili

Ensure it's raw prawns you use

Ingredients
Serves 4

Enough Linguine for 4

4oz butter (it might seem like a lot, but this will 
essentially make up the sauce for the dish)


6 fat garlic cloves, crushed

1lb Raw Tiger prawns

1 heaped teaspoon of dried chili flakes

Juice and grated zest of a lemon 

Handful of Parmesan, grated

Fresh chopped parsley, chives or dill to serve 




Method
Melt the butter on a very low heat and add the crushed garlic. Cook on a very low heat until translucent.

Turn up the heat and add the raw prawns, lemon zest and juice and chili and cook until prawns have turned opaque. This only takes a minute or two.

Meanwhile, cook pasta according to packet instructions. I love the fresh stuff, flavour aside, it takes two minutes.

Add one ladle of cooking water from the pasta and allow to bubble for a minute or two, add the Parmesan, this will make the sauce creamy.

Toss cooked linguine through the sauce and topped with chopped herbs and another sprinkling of Parmesan and possibly more chili flakes if you like the heat, which I do.
Serve with tossed green salad and/or crusty bread.