Prawn Tagliatelle (Shrimp)

Pasta with prawns on white plate with fork and spoon.

5 from 2 votes

Prawn Tagliatelle is a quick and easy pasta recipe perfect any night of the week. With juicy prawns, al dente pasta and a simple tomato sauce.

Prep Time5

Cook Time10

Total Time15

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: prawn tagliatelle, tagliatelle with prawns

Servings:

Calories: 89kcal

Author: Adrianne

Ingredients

500 grams/ 16 oz prawns Note 1
2 tablespoon olive oil Note 2
1 tbs garlic chunky, minced, Note 3
¼ teaspoon salt Note 4
½ teaspoon black pepper
400 grams/14 oz crushed tomatoes
2 tbs tomato paste
2 tbs Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon Italian herbs
250 grams/8.8 oz tagliatelle
½ cup/125 ml reserved pasta water
⅓ cup flat leaf parsley stems removed, finely chopped with kitchen scissors

To garnish (optional):

parsley
lemon wedges
parmesan cheese
black pepper

Instructions

Prawns: prepare the prawns by twisting and removing the heads, pulling the tails off and removing the shell. Then use a knife along the backbone to slice it open and remove the digestive tract.
Cook prawns: place a large saute pan on the stove top, turn the heat to high and add the olive oil, garlic and prawns. Cook the prawns for 3-4 minutes, rotating sides. They will turn bright orange with white, non transparent flesh. Once the prawns are cooked, use a slotted spoon to lift them up and out of the pan and place them into a paper towel lined chopping board.
Pasta sauce: without rinsing or cleaning the pan that you used to cook the prawns, turn the heat to medium low and then add the crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce and Italian seasoning. Then stir to combine.
Tagliatelle: read and follow the package directions to cook the pasta in a medium saucepan of boiling salted water. Moments before it is al dente (a little bit chewy) use a heatproof jug to scoop out 1 -2 cups of the pasta water. Then use a colander over the sink to drain the rest of the water and discard.
Combine: add the hot pasta to the tomato sauce and then add ½ cup (125 ml) of the reserved pasta water to the pan and use a pair of tongs to toss and combine. Note 9
Parsley: next add the chopped parsley to the pan and use tongs to toss to combine.
Cooked prawns: then add the cooked prawns to the pasta and gently stir to fold them into the dish.
Garnish: when the pasta and prawns have heated through generously garnish the dish with freshly grated parmesan cheese, black pepper, additional chopped parsley and lemon wedges. Provide bowls, forks and spoons then portion and serve.

Notes

- Note 1 - Prawns: we want to use fresh prawns that we prepare ourselves for maximum flavor. Yes, there is a bit of prep work involved in terms of peeling and deveining the prawns but for their taste and texture, it is worth it.
- Note 2 - Olive oil: we use a little bit of olive oil to fry off the prawns with the garlic on the stove top.
- Note 3 - Garlic: you can use 2-3 cloves of fresh garlic finely chopped or chunky chopped or minced garlic.
- Note 4 - Salt and pepper: we use a little bit of salt and black pepper to provide seasoning in the recipe. These get added when we are cooking the prawns.
- Note 5 - Crushed tomatoes: we use crushed tomatoes to create the pasta sauce. Opt for plain ones with no additional herbs or flavours ie 'Italian Crushed Tomatoes'.
- Note 6 - Tomato paste: we add the tomato paste to the sauce for an extra depth of flavor.
- Note 7 - Worcestershire sauce: this gives the sauce a little oomph. Otherwise known as a flavor boost 😉👍.

- Note 7 Italian herbs: this dried Italian seasoning is a handy pantry staple. You can use dried basil, dried parsley or dried oregano in place of this if you wish too (to the equivalent of 1 teaspoon).

- Note 8 - Tagliatelle: you will find this in the pasta aisle. It will be sold in a packet and the pasta is in round ball form not straight and long like spaghetti. It will have 'egg pasta' written on the packet.
- Note 9 - Reserved pasta water: you will find it a lot easier to scoop out 1 to 2 cups of the pasta water with a heatproof jug and then later measure ½ cup (125ml) of this. As the pasta is bubbling and splashing away it is not an exact science at this point. Then add the measured amount of ½ cup to the sauce and discard the rest of what you took out.
- Serving size: most standard pasta packages are 500 grams/16 oz. Tagliatelle is 250 grams/8 oz per packet. If feeding 4 adults and wanting a large bowl of pasta each, consider adding more pasta to the recipe, ie 2 bags, 500 grams/16 oz.

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