Thursday 9 June 2011

A shed-building supper.

Knocked together after knocking together the new shed, because it was too late for what I'd planned to cook.

Ten raw king prawns
A cheek off a butternut squash
A red pepper
Half a red onion
Ten wee tomatoes
Two medium tomatoes, skinned and seeded, or a small tin (this is supposed to be painless)
Tomato puree
Two cloves of garlic
Olive oil and chilli-infused olive oil
Spaghetti
Fresh basil
Salt and pepper

Set king prawns to defrost, if using frozen ones, and heat the oven to 200. Make a very large dice of red pepper, squash and red onion, put it in a small roasting tin, coat with a tablespoon of chilli oil and another of olive oil, season, stir and put it in the oven; roast these for twenty minutes or so, stirring occasionally and adding some baby plum or cherry tomatoes around halfway through. Bring a large pan of water to the boil and add spaghetti. Heat a little olive oil and chilli oil in a saucepan, finely chop a little red onion and a clove or two of garlic and soften gently. Throw in a big teaspoon of tomato puree and cook down a little, then increase the heat add the raw prawns, frying for a couple of minutes. Tip in the roasted vegetables plus a couple of tablespoons of chopped tomatoes (fresh or tinned), season then cover and simmer for five minutes. Stir in some chopped basil and black pepper. Drain the pasta, toss in a little olive oil and salt, and serve on warmed plates topped with the sauce.

I think a little courgette or aubergine would add some balance to the sweetness - perhaps even just a squeeze of lemon. It was good enough to write up, anyway.
UPDATE: This time, I added some balsamic vinegar to the vegetables as they roasted, and a bay leaf to the sauce, which seemed to balance things a bit better.

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