Cecconi’s at Burlington Gardens is one of
most favourite restaurants in the whole entire world! I love their breakfasts,
and often dream of the perfectly cooked duck egg with freshly shaven truffles…
I love their cocktails… They make a mean dirty martini… They have the yummiest
Noscerella olives… Their Vermentino is so delicious and unbelievably priced…
They have Prosecco on tap… the list could go on forever, but the thing I love
most about this restaurant is their amazing pasta!
During term-time in St Andrews, my
housemates and I would dream of the delicious, garlicky, prawn and asparagus
pasta. We dreamt and dreamt, drooled and drooled a bit more, until we got off
our backsides, picked up the appropriate groceries and re-created this perfect
dish approximately 352 miles (not that I Googled it or anything) away from its
birthplace. And it was divine! And instead of adhering to the portions set out
for us, we set our own portions… terribly dangerous stuff…
Even though I’m back in London, and
Cecconi’s is only a stone’s throw away, I still like to make this perfect meal
at home. And it’s precisely what I made the other night when I had a few
friends round. This recipe comfortably feeds 4.
200g
of uncooked prawns, butterflied
bundle
of asparagus
4
cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
150g
of tagliatelle (Cav. Giuseppe Cocco)
olive
oil
salt
and pepper to taste
Prep all the ingredients. Butterfly the
prawns, make asparagus ribbons, chop up the asparagus core and tips, peel and
chop the garlic. Bring to boil a large pot of water and generously salt the
water before adding the tagliatelle. Allow the pasta to cook on its own and add
the asparagus about a minute before the end of cooking time (mine was 3 minutes
without the asparagus, and 1 minute with the asparagus). Drain the pasta and
asparagus, saving a generous cup of pasta water, and set aside. In a large pan,
heat up some olive oil and add the garlic and prawns and stirfry. When the
prawns are almost cooked (pink and opaque looking) add the pasta and asparagus
to the pan and combine all the ingredients together. Loosen up the mixture by
adding the pasta water, the whole cup is usually needed. Serve immediately with
Gran Padano, if desired!
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