Prawn, spinach & Cherry tomatoes ready to be tossed with the pasta! Bellissimo!

This is not the first time I cooked my recipe, arranged it on the plate, served it on the table and forgot to take a photo for publication.  I cannot blame myself.  Once you tried this recipe you will also realize you cannot blame me for getting too excited to eat and please my palate.

Italian food is known for simple recipe and unique blend of flavors.  This is another simple, easy and quick recipe which is ideal for busy moms.  I confidently recommend this recipe to all  those who have no luxury of time to prepare two-course recipe.  Your plate will already be made complete with carbohydrates, protein and all the goodness of green and scrumptious baby spinach.  The sweet, citrus-y  and juicy cherry tomatoes are additional bonus to your craving palate.

Since the recipe is very simple, I will just put the cooking instructions and ingredients all in the next paragraph.  Amount of ingredients will depend on how much you want as well as on your taste.

Instructions: Saute garlic; put the peeled tiger prawns; splash a bit of white wine and wait for the alcohol to evaporate; put in the baby spinach and cook until wilted; throw in halved cherry tomatoes.  Season with salt and pepper, and bit of chili flakes.  Toss with pre-boiled spaghetti or any pasta that you like.

Optional: Put shaved parmesan on top before serving.  You can also substitute baby spinach with baby rocket lettuce of any green leafy veggies of your choice.

Bon apetit!

I always make sure that I have some ready made Basil Pesto in the fridge.  This is very helpful when I have a very busy day that all I want to do in the afternoon is to prepare an easy and quick dinner before hubby comes home.

The tip is to prepare a container of basil pesto (which you can also replace with baby spinach) and keep it in a fridge.  It can last for a week or two.  This is because of the olive oil in it, the puree stays beautifully preserved.  And the more that the flavour of all the ingredients are enhanced and they compliment each other.

To prepare the Pesto puree:  Put in the blender the following:  Basil leaves (a bunch; remove the leaves from stems!), garlic cloves (one or two or more as you wish), pine nuts (toasted or not), some grated parmesan cheese (lots if you want) and olive oil.  The measurement of all the ingredients will depend on how much flavour you like.  Adjust the ingredients according to your taste.  Blend everything into puree/ paste or you can use food processor.

Boil the pasta in salted water.  You can choose whichever kind of pasta you want.  My favourites are spaghetti, fettuccine, linguine and fusilli.

When the pasta is cooked, drain it.  Add the pesto, thick cream (or all-purpose cream).   Mix well.

Whenever we have Pesto for dinner, I always accompany it with mixed vegetable salad with balsamic vinegar and olive oil as dressing.  I also prepare my favourite bruschetta. 

How to prepare bruschetta:  Dice tomatoes, add chopped basil, minced garlic, season with salt and drizzled with olive oil.  Top the mixture on a toasted bread.

That’s it!  That could be your dinner for tonight.  Bon apetit!

Note:  You can save some of those pesto puree and use it as marinade for your favourite chicken or steak.  Marinade it overnight and grill or even pan fry.  I have also tried it on prawns.  Delish!!

This is just one of the recipes I have learned from my lovely mother-in-law. I will tell you some varieties that I have come up with using this simple recipe.

Oglio is an Italian garlic infused oil that is used to dress spaghetti or spaghettini.  This is a very simple alternative to the usual tomato sauce or creamy sauce.  The base of this sauce is olive oil.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup olive oil

3 cloves of garlic finely chopped

finely chopped parsley – as much as you want

few pieces of finely chopped anchovies; use the preserved salted anchovies

1/4 kilo boiled spaghetti

Directions:

-Heat olive oil in pan

-Saute chopped garlic until golden brown

-Put in chopped parsley and saute for 30 seconds to bring out its flavor and aroma

-Put in the chopped anchovies

-After a minute, mix the oglio with the pre-boiled spaghetti

That simple!  You can make a variety of this oglio by mixing in peeled prawns instead of anchovies.  You can use both anchovies and prawns as well.  You can add chilli flakes if you like it hot!

This recipe may be served with fresh green salad.  That shall be enough to be a complete meal for your family.

You can prepare the oglio whenever you have spare time during the early time of the day and just mix it with the pasta for lunch or for dinner.  I usually serve this dinner when I have lots of things to do at daytime and I have no much time left to cook dinner.

This is indeed a 15-minute recipe! I recommend this for working moms.  This is a sure hit to your family.