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Friday 16 November 2012

Easy Western : Post #4 : Shrimp and Mushroom Pasta in Marinara Sauce

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Summing up our Easy Western series is this yummy dish of Shrimp and Mushroom pasta in marinara sauce.
 



This dish is inspired by my favourite item from Italiannies.  If you have eaten at Italiannies before, you might have ordered something similar to this on their menu.  This is my must-have item and I order it practically everytime I eat there.
 
The nicest part of this dish is the crunchy shrimp and mushrooms drenched in a flood of marinara sauce that's bursting with the tangy sweetness of cherry tomatoes.  It is totally different from bolognese sauce, which is heavier and meatbase.  This is light and refreshingly appetizing, and doesn't leave you feeling like a ton of bricks post dinner. 
 
 
Nowadays I prefer to use wholewheat brown pasta instead of
the regular ones.
 
 
Shrimp and Mushroom Pasta in Marinara Sauce
Serves 2-4

  • 400g jumbo size prawns, shelled, deveined, sliced halved across the entire shrimp
  • 150g white button mushrooms, sliced
  • 500g cherry tomatoes, halved (do not use regular tomatoes, they are not as sweet, unless you specifically use vine ripened tomatoes)
  • 6-8 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 110g tomato puree
  • 350g pasta
  • 1/2 tbsp sweet basil, chopped
  • Salt and sugar to taste



My MIL bought us some HUGE prawns - that's why i halved them horizontally so they cook faster
and more evenly. If you are using medium/regular size shrimps,
then it is not necessary.



1.  Marinade the prawns with a generous pinch of salt and sugar.  Mix well, cover and chill in the fridge for about 20min.  This will give the prawns a bit of a crunchy texture (it will definitely not be as crunchy as those served in restaurants, but you do not want to know how they make it so crunchy :P)

2.  Heat some oil and fry the garlic until fragrant, but not until golden (not the chinese style).  You still want the crunchy texture of the white garlic.  Add the cherry tomatoes and tomato puree, stir until boiling, turn down to simmer for 15min.

3.  Meanwhile, cook the pasta until al dente.  Drain on a colander, pour back into the pot and stir in 2 tbspn of olive oil to lubricate.

4.  Add the mushrooms and simmer until it turns opaque.

5.  Finally, add the prawns and stir until the prawns are just cooked.  Do not overcook the prawns.  Sir in the chopped sweet basil and turn off the fire.  Season with additional salt, sugar and black pepper.  Adjust the taste, it should be tangy, sourish, garlicky and just slightly sweet.  Serve immediately on a bed of cooked pasta.




Have a good weekend everyone!

26 comments:

  1. Esther, I have eaten that pasta dish at Italiannies and I loved it! And whoa, those prawns are huge! Great recipe, I definitely want to cook this :)

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  2. Fantastic! How about linking it in to Food on Friday: Pasta and noodles? Have a great week!

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  3. WOW!! I love that jumbo prawns and the pasta :D Can't help drooling....

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    Replies
    1. Yea, those giant fresh prawns really made a difference to the dish.

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  4. Another goodie - thanks for linking it in. cheers

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  5. Those prawns are huge! Your pasta has my name on it, can I come to your house? :)

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  6. I love seafood pasta and yours looks good.

    Btw, what's this western series about? Do you do like a series every time?

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    1. Yea, sometimes i like to work around a theme, just for continuity and flow purposes, like the Back to Basics series in September and Nourishing Soups in June. At times, i just do random postings of recipes. It depends on whatever material i have and the mood :)

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  7. Hoo boy! Those are huge prawns! Love seafood pasta and this looks droolicious! Forget Italiannies ... I'm coming over!

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  8. It will cost me a bomb if I buy this size of prawns here. I normally get Australia banana prawns which are slightly smaller & much cheaper than king prawns. My children love this pasta that you've cooked. Oh in regard of the pictures~pin it issue, I can still see the pictures in your blog but not from my side where I can check all the updates from other bloggers!

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    1. I am sure these cost my MIL a bomb too, but they are generous like that, we are very blessed. I still havent wuit figure out what's causing the hitch in the pin up thingy.,.me not very IT savvy, got to take some time to find my way around.

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  9. wow! thats real big prawns! i love it but i dont like the price LOL
    the pasta looks so yummy!

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    1. Yea, bigger prawns really add a depth of flavour to the pasta.

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  10. Oh, gosh, does this sound delightful!!! Pasta plus shrimp plus mushrooms and I'm in heaven!

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  11. I love this western series of yours, you made it sound easy and manageable. Psst, I made a note to buy some leek over the weekend because of your potato leek soup that caught my attention. Adding on this pasta will make it a lovely meal! Thanks for sharing, I am so looking forward to try this out!

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    1. Thanks! Glad to hear that you will be trying out the recipe. Hope you and your family will have a enjoyable meal :)

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  12. I can't believe the size of those prawns! This dish looks and sounds fantastic!

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    1. Thanks Chris, yea even i was like, gosh how big are those prawns!!

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  13. hi esther, this is good enuf to make me hungry now! i just had pau for dinner :) never tried brown pasta before, is the texture more coarser compared to regular wheat pastas?

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  14. Pau for dinner? You on diet ah? Heehee. Just teasing, the brand of wholewheat brown pasta i used is Riscossa. The texture is very similar to white pasta, perhaps just a tiniest tad denser, but not coarse, and it fills you up faster than white pasta, which is a good thing for me so i dont end up eating too much carbo haha.

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