Lemon Cream, Prawn and Leek Pasta

A while back I asked you if you would like me to share my really simple recipe for my Lemon Cream, Prawn and Leek Pasta and a lot of you said ‘yes please’ and I’m so glad you did! Once you’ve made this dish you will be making it again and again, not only because of the minimal amount of time you will spend in the kitchen, but also because unlike every over-priced prawn pasta you will get in a restaurant, this dish will guarantee you a mouth-full of lemony prawn deliciousness every time your fork goes in for more!PS: Sorry, it’s taken me so long to write this up, I have all these things that I want to blog about and I have a draft folder full of half-written posts, but sometimes just not enough time to complete them which really bums me out! I am going to try harder to get more content out to you guys because I love doing this and I love knowing that there are a few of you out there that appreciate it too 🙂 So thanks for all the support!

Ok, so I went a bit off-topic delaying the sharing of this recipe one again hahah, but not to worry the next bit is all prawn, all lemon and all goodness!

So when I mentioned that this recipe is simple, I meant it. All you’re going to need is:

INGREDIENTS (Serves 4, or 2 EXTREMELY hungry adults):

· A packet of cooked, deshelled prawns – I use the frozen medium prawns from Woolies I find that they cook nicely and don’t go rubbery.

· 3 x Medium sized lemons

· 250mls normal cream

· Half a chicken stock pot or cube

· 5 x Leeks, sliced thinly

· 2 x Cloves of garlic – crushed

· About a 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese

· Salted butter

· Salt and ground black pepper to tatse

· 500 grams of pasta – I like to make mine with linguine, but any pasta will do

DIRECTIONS:

1. Make sure your prawns have defrosted properly. Chuck them in a colander and give them a rinse and a proper strain.
2. Bring a big pot of salted water to the boil and then add your pasta. Cook until al dente.
3. In a hot skillet pan melt about a big knob of salted butter, once sizzling add in half your prawns, half your garlic and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Flash fry them until they are a little brown on both sides. Because the prawns are pre-cooked you don’t want to overcook them otherwise they will come out rubbery. Remove them from the pan and place them in a bowl.
4. Once the first batch is done, repeat the process with the second half of the prawns, I cook them like this so that they have enough space to touch the bottom of the pan and get a bit of colour.
5. In the same pan, without the prawns in it add a bit more butter and fry your sliced leeks with a bit of salt and pepper.
6. Chuck the prawns back in the pan with the cooked leeks and reduce the heat to a low temp. Add the cream, chicken stockpot, lemon juice from about 2 medium-sized lemons and the parmesan cheese. Let it simmer for a while to allow the cream to thicken, the lemon will also help with this process.
7. Taste your sauce and see if it needs a bit more lemon, salt or pepper. I like mine to be quite lemony, so often I’ll add more as well as about a teaspoon of lemon zest. But it’s all up to your taste buds. I also like to mix about a tablespoon of butter and about a tablespoon of flour to make a paste then I add that in too to thicken it.
8. Strain your cooked pasta and then mix your sauce into it, making sure to coat all that starchy goodness.
9. Garnish the top with black pepper and more parmesan. Enjoy!