Pesto pasta of prawn, mushrooms, spinach and carrots

Developed in mid-conversation this morning, whilst my beloved was taking a shower. Inspirational quote “What is going rotten in the fridge?” – the only thing I bought was the prawns for this dish.

Ingredients:
Pasta shells
King prawns, shelled and deveined
Bag of mushrooms, sliced
Bag of spinach
2 large carrots, cut into chunks
1 bottle of good pesto
Good olive oil
Sea salt & pepper, seasoning

Directions:

Rinse the prawns (I bought them frozen from Chinese supermarket). After making sure they are relatively dry, sprinkle generously with white pepper, sea salt and olive oil. Coat all prawns and leave aside for 10 mins (at least).

Slice mushrooms. Heat (medium) up a pan with good olive oil, and sauté the mushrooms until they turn black and wilt. Add some water or stock if you prefer. There is usually a lot of moisture, but don’t stop there! Keep cooking the mushrooms until the water is absorbed back into the mushrooms. Scoop onto a dish and set aside. You will find that the cooked mushrooms are now 1/3 of its uncooked size. (That’s ok, just budget for 3 times as much next time! :) ).

Cut the carrots into chunks. I found the best way to cook carrots is actually in the microwave. Put them in a bowl, glad wrap and 3 minutes (HIGH). After 3 minutes, remove and toss. Put back into the microwave for 2.5mins (HIGH). Leave in microwave until needed.

Bunging the pasta (I am the worst offender for pasta sticking!).

If using a bag of 500g pasta, I find that 1.5 litre of water, boiling rapidly in a deep pot, with a good dash of oil (cheapo, like canola) and good sprinkle of table salt is foolproof (or just Ai-Ling-proof). Funnies aside, make sure all the above is happening before you throw in the pasta. Bung the pasta for 10 – 15 minutes, stirring constantly to prevent sticking. If using fresh pasta, 3 – 5 minutes is enough. Sample one, the texture should be sort of chewy & soft but still firm, and not make you want to drink water afterwards (or otherwise known as al dente).

In a hot wok or pan, quickly stir-fry the prawns. This should only take about 5 minutes, or until the prawns turn colour.

In the last few minutes of cooking the pasta, place the spinach above the steaming pot (in a colander or similar) and let the spinach wilt. Drain excess moisture from the spinach.

Throw the cooked pasta, spinach, mushrooms and carrots into the wok with the prawns. Mix everything well with pesto, adding more olive oil if needed.

Serve in a bowl to your lucky dinner buddy. Hand them a spoon and ask them to start shovelling.