Delicious saffron spaghetti with a cream prawn and squid sauce recipe
Posted by Fiona Nevile in Fish and Seafood, Rice and Pasta | 4 comments
Photo: Prawn and squid saffron spaghetti
This is my all time favourite prawn recipe. Quick and easy to make and a deluxe treat. And there’s the rub. Prawns are expensive so whenever we see North Atlantic prawns on sale we grab them and bung them into the freezer. Where they wait in limbo to finally be teamed with squid and guzzled with glee.
The saffron is pricey too. We get round this by adding saffron to our Christmas lists. Generally we get enough to see us through the next year. One day I plan to do a Magic Cochin and grow my own.
Delicious saffron spaghetti with a cream prawn and squid recipe – for two greedy people or three normal humans
Ingredients:
Spaghetti for two – 200g (we are greedy and the Min Pins also love spaghetti)
A quarter to half a teaspoon of saffron strands
200g of peeled cooked prawns (unfrozen)
100g of squid sliced unto 1cm rings
200ml of thick single cream (or cheap double cream)
1 tsp of garlic granules
1 walnut sized knob of butter
1 tsp of olive oil
Quarter tsp of cayenne pepper
1tsp of lemon juice
Good twist of freshly ground white pepper and salt to taste
1 tsp of chopped fresh parsley to dress
Method:
Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil. Add the saffron and the spaghetti and follow the manufacturers instructions for cooking time (usually about 12 minutes).
After about five minutes put a sauté pan over a low to medium heat and melt the butter and olive oil (the latter will stop the butter burning).
Add the garlic granules, cayenne pepper and lemon juice and stir. Add the cream and turn up the heat a bit. Stir the cream constantly until it starts to thicken then add the prawns and squid. Cook for a further 2 minutes to let the prawns heat through and cook the squid.
If you are using raw (grey) prawns add them with the cream. When they are pink they are cooked.
Season to taste and serve the spaghetti with the sauce in the middle and a sprinkle of parsley. Fresh crusty bread on the side is good with this and a crunchy green salad, with a lemon dressing.
Leave a reply
Hi John
Thanks for the advice. I’m going to try planting a few even if they just produce a pinch of saffron it will be fun!
Hello Michelle
Saffron rice is good too – very fragrant.
Hugs to you both.
Hi Jo
I’m thrilled! Thank you.
Hi there Fiona –
as Tony spends so much time in the Middle East he is generally able to get his hands on great saffron at a fraction of the usual price in the spice souks he visits when trawling for gelato ingredients. I’ll see what he can rustle up for you, for Christmas….
I just happen to have a packet of prawns in the freezer and I’ll borrow your idea of asking for saffron for Xmas. This recipe could so easily be scaled down to “Mickle” size.
Sincere thanks, dear Fiona,
Michelle xxx (Zeb is very busy snoring)
Hi Fiona,
On the topic of Saffron Crocus, they’re shy little buggers. Mine grow well, indeed I had to dig up and break the bunches of blubs up, they had got so crowded. Perhaps I give them too much of the good life, for they rarely flower – although one did this spring (recorded on my blog oldfogie.wordpress.com/2009/03).