The Cottage Smallholder

Prawn and aspargus spaghetti

I love prawns and asparagus. At this time of year there are a lot of two for one offers on UK asparagus and we cash in. Our asparagus patch is into its second year and not thriving. However, an asparagus expert visited the garden recently, inspected the spindly spears and gave me some great advice.
“Apply fish, blood and bone and bank up with earth like spuds. These roots are clearly not being fed enough!”
Maybe, next year we might be cutting our first spears.

Prawns are expensive but Danny often finds them half price on the *CFC. They freeze well and are there for a quick meal if you are pressed for time or just want a bit of a treat.

This meal was fast and easy to prepare  – just the time to cook the spaghetti. It tasted superb – good fresh flavours and loads of deluxe élan. This would be great for a chic supper party – there was plenty for four people with a starter or a pud.

Delicious prawn and asparagus spaghetti recipe for four

Ingredients:

250g of asparagus
290g of cooked prawns
300g of spaghetti
2 tbsp of good olive oil
The juice of half a lemon
1 clove of garlic (chopped very fine) or a teaspoon of garlic granules
4 tbsp of grated Parmesan (or similar hard cheese)

Method:

Cook the asparagus (ours took 5 mins, plunged into boiling water), chop off the woody part of the stems and cut the spears into 2 – 3cm lengths. Set aside.

Cook your spaghetti according to the manufacturer’s instructions, meanwhile towards the end of cooking time gently heat the olive oil, lemon juice and garlic in a frying pan.

When the spaghetti is cooked drain and set aside (lid on).

Quickly add the cooked prawns and asparagus tips to the frying pan and turning them gently cover them with the oil, garlic and lemon mixture. After a couple of minutes or so – when they are warmed through serve them on top of the spaghetti with a decent sprinkle of grated Parmesan.