Prawn pasta with tomatoes, garlic & cream Drizzle and Dip

Prawn pasta dishes are amongst my favourite things to eat on the planet. I’m always hunting down the good ones at restaurants around Cape Town. I like them tomato-based, and cream-based, so with this recipe, I tried to strike a happy balance with the two. I wanted tomatoes in there for the umami component, but I balanced that out with the white wine and cream component. I’m pretty happy with the result. This was developed to pair with the newly released TOKARA Reserve Collection Elgin Sauvignon blanc 2019 which complements seafood dishes. This crisp wine redolent of tropical fruit and fresh citrus cuts through the creaminess of the dish perfectly. It reminds me of the best Sauvs in the Marlborough region of New Zealand and this robust wine is punching above its R140 price point.

The prawns and this sauce cook super quickly, so dinner can be made in the time it takes to boil the pasta. Just get everything ready first as things go quickly here and you will need to rely on some intuition to get it right.

This makes two generous portions and I’ve tossed a small handful of wild rocket leaves in at the end to bump up the herbaceousness and add a dash of pepper flavour. You can adjust the quantity of any of these ingredients to your personal preference.

Recipe – serves 2

Ingredients

250 gms linguini or spaghetti
1 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbsp butter
4 anchovy fillets chopped
300 gms prawn meat after skinned, deveined and the heads removed
250 gms baby tomatoes halved
3 cloves garlic crushed
½ red chilli finely chopped or ½ teaspoon dried chilli flakes
6 sundried tomatoes in olive oil vinaigrette blitzed in a small food processor or bashed up to a paste in a pestle and mortar
½ cup dry white wine I used the Tokara Sauvignon blanc obviously
1 Tbsp baby capers or chopped capers optional
1/3 – ½ cup cream
2 Tbsp finely chopped parsley
Small handful wild rocket leaves
Zest of half a lemon
Salt & pepper

Instructions

Get a large pot of salted water on the boil and cook your pasta according to the pack instructions and until al dente.
Get the sauce going about 5 minutes into cooking the pasta. Heat a large nonstick frying and add the butter and olive oil. Once bubbling, add the anchovies and prawns and toss about until the prawns just start turning pink. Add the garlic and chilli and cook for about 30 seconds and until fragrant.
Add the wine to deglaze the pan and allow most of the liquid to cook off. Then add the tomatoes, sundried tomatoes and cook for about 2 – 3 minutes.
Add the cream and capers and allow this to thicken slightly.
Drain the pasta and reserve some of the cooking liquid. Tip the pasta into the pan to finish off cooking with the sauce. Add some of the cooking liquid to loosen the pasta and toss in the chopped parsley, wild rocket and grated lemon zest. Season with salt and pepper and serve immediately in large bowls.

You might also like:

Jamie Oliver’s fantastic fish pie

Baked whole trout with herbs and lemon

Mussles with white wine galic and cream

Creamy salmon pasta with spinach, capers & lemon

Trout en Papillote with fennel

Herb & fennel crusted salmon

For more about the beautiful Tokara Estate

The Restaurant at Tokara and the 2019 Spring menu

Tokara Estate and olive oil

*This post was sponsored by Tokara

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9 Comments

Also my fav thing in the world – prawns, tomato vibe, cream, pasta. THE BEST! I make it often. Also good with a splash of fish sauce.

Oh Sam, please tell me where you sourced those utterly gorgeous heirloom tomatoes?

HI Lizet, I found these at Joosenburg deli in Stellies. So delicious (and photogenic). I sometimes see similar at OZCF market too if you get there early enough x

Ooh I like the idea of fish sauce here too. Nice!

One of my favourite go-to dishes. I’ve only ever made the Jamie Oliver version without the cream and capers, but this sounds like a yummy idea! Will definitely try it.

Although I love winter (I’m one of those weirdos) I’m really craving some beautiful tomatoes like the ones you have photographed. Stunningly beautiful. This is a beautiful pasta dish. When I was in New Zealand in 2017, I expected to drink only sauvignon blancs from the Marlborough region, but boy did I fall in love with their pinot gris!!!