This takes a while but the flavour from the prawn stock is worth it, not to mention the fact that you don't waste any part of the 6 large (about 300g) raw Australian or Argentinian prawns you need for this dish. The romesco from my barbecued chicken with romesco and vegetable paella recipe is also good with this.
For the stock
| 2 Tbsp | Extra virgin olive oil |
| 6 heads | Raw prawns, and shells, Australian or Argentinian prawns, heads chopped coarsely (Main) |
| 1 small | Onion, chopped |
| 1 small | Carrot, thinly sliced |
| ½ stick | Celery, thinly sliced |
| 1 | Bay leaf |
| 2 large | Garlic cloves, sliced |
| 1 | Tomato, sliced |
| 50 ml | Dry white wine |
| 500 ml | Chicken stock |
| 1 cup | Water |
| ¼ tsp | Sweet smoked paprika, Spanish |
For the pasta
| 4 Tbsp | Extra virgin olive oil |
| 150 g | Angel hair pasta, or very thin spaghetti, broken into 2-3cm lengths (I used a thin wholegrain spaghetti) (Main) |
| 1 small | Onion, chopped |
| 1 small | Carrot, thinly sliced |
| ½ stick | Celery, thinly sliced |
| 1 | Red capsicum, roasted, cored, deseeded, and sliced 1cm thick |
| 6 large | Raw prawns, shelled, Australian or Argentinian, sliced through the back but not right through so you can remove the digestive tract (Main) |
| 350 g | White fish, skinned, boned, firm, and cut into 4cm pieces (monkfish is good for this) (Main) |
| 1 whole | Prawn stock, (preparation instructions below, brought to boil |
| 50 g | Snow peas |
| 2 | Lemon wedges, and chopped parsley for serving |
Directions
- For the stock: Heat a deep frying pan over moderate heat. Add oil and prawn heads (including any of the brown gooey liquid from the heads) and shells. Fry gently until they have turned orange. Add the onion, carrot, celery, bay leaf, garlic and tomato and fry gently (be careful of the brown gooey liquid from the heads as this burns easily) for 10 minutes.
- Add the white wine. Turn up the heat and let it bubble for 30 seconds. Add the stock, water and paprika. Bring to the boil and simmer 20 minutes (don't boil too hard or it will evaporate too much).
- Remove from the heat, strain well and reserve the liquid. This is the prawn stock for the following.
- For the pasta: Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large frying pan over moderate heat. Add the pasta and stir-fry gently until it is lightly toasted. Remove from the pan and reserve.
- To the same pan, add the remaining oil, the onion, carrot, celery and red capsicum to the pan and fry gently without browning for 10 minutes.
- Add the prawns, fish, pasta and prawn stock. Bring to the boil and boil gently for 15 minutes or until the liquid has been almost all absorbed.
- Push the snowpeas into the mixture and cook a further minute.
- Serve from the frying pan with a sprinkle of parsley and lemon wedges on the side for squeezing.