At work a few weeks ago I received one of our newsletter's. I don't tend to read this monthly addition but I felt really compelled to click and read. So click I did. With a quick brouse - I saw a header for a Spot Prawn Festival the Chefs Table Society puts on. I had to click. So click. I did. Such a happy girl was I… reading about the 4th Annual Spot Prawn Festival (held on Fisherman’s Wharf) and after watching the video, I decided I HAD to go. I had heard about it in previous years but never made the effort to walk outside of the Market interior to explore.
After checking the dates I decided to make the 5 minute venture outside of the invisible walls of Granville Island to Fisherman’s Wharf.
I went and stood in line and waited for the triumphant horn to blast it’s notice of arrival from the prawning expedition. I was lucky and happened to be one of the first 3 people in line. I heard later through friends that they sold out within a half hour.
I didn’t really know what to do with the prawns. For some reason I thought they wouldn’t be alive. It was kind of bizarre… walking with a pound and a half of live prawns flickering around in your bag was something very different.
Talk about fresh. I headed home and cooked them exactly how the fisherman instructed: boiled salted water, in for 1 – 2 minutes heads on.
This was an interesting experience. I can’t even kill a spider (I am that girl on the couch screaming- even when alone) so a squirming prawn pushed me to try something I am definitely not comfortable with: I cooked them and then pulled off their heads (this was really disgusting), cleaned them and shelled them.
I had beautiful pink prawns in front of me that only hours previously were out on the ocean floor. I stood there and decided to make spaghetti, gluten free and with stunning fresh spotted prawns.
Have I mentioned my new favourite pasta brand?
Spaghetti with Spotted Prawns
8 Spotted Prawns
1 can of whole tomatoes
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1/2 sweet onion
Asparagus, chopped, about 1/2 cup
Zest of 1/2 lemon
Fresh parsley, 1 - 2 tbsps
Grape seed oil
Salt and Pepper
Put water onto boil - follow package directions.
Pour approximately 2 tbsps of the grape seed oil into a heated pan. Add sliced garlic and onion on a low-medium heat. Add salt and pepper to season. Cook until onions become transparent.
Open the can of tomatoes. Gently break them by hand and gradually added them to the onion mixture and add about ¼ to ½ cup of the tomato sauce from the can. Let cook until light boil happens. Add the asparagus and cook for a further 5 minutes. Add cooked spot prawns. The spotted prawns were huge and I chopped them because it just wanted like that – but you can add them whole or any way you want!
Add lemon zest and parsley.
Mix with pasta.
Serve and enjoy! I did and so did my friends who I shared it with.
No comments:
Post a Comment