Beetroot, prawns & ginger spaghetti

Every shade of red is often considered the colour of passion and for this reason I think this quirky pasta dish is even more attractive for a date night.

I used spaghettoni (larger than spaghetti) as their thickness give them an amazing texture when cooked directly in the sauce (risottati), even if not fully ‘al dente’ they still retain a great bite. The beetroot extract used for the dish can be either bought from the store or simply extracted at home from boiled beetroot. If you want less hassle you can even swap it for a couple of teaspoons of beets powder added to the stock.

The sweetness of this sauce is well balanced by the tangy ginger that gives depth and balsamic notes to the dish. I hope you like it.

Serves: 4 // Preparation Time: 50 minutes

Ingredients

• 400 g of Spaghettoni or spaghetti

• 270 gr of sweet prawns

• 1 small red onion, 1 carrot, 1 celery stalks  

• 200 ml of beetroot extract

• 80 gr of fresh ginger

• 1 bay leaf

• Basil leaves to garnish

• 1 lemon for the zest

• 20 gr of unsalted butter

• 4 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil

• Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

Start by preparing the stock. Remove the heads from the prawns and peel carefully. Remove the prawns’ intestines by pulling the long black vein along with the tails. With a scissor remove the eyes from the prawns heads as they could turn the stock bitter.

Use the prawns’ peelings and heads to create a quick prawn stock. Sweat the chopped onion and vegs with a drizzle olive oil and a pinch of salt. Add the prawns’ heads and peels and toast on a medium heat for 2/3 minutes. Now add the chopped ginger and cook for 2 more minutes making sure to crash the prawns’ heads to release all the juices and flavour. Now cover with water (just enough water to cover the prawns) and simmer for 15 minutes. Pass through a fine sieve and put back into the pan. (For 400 gr of spaghetti you need about 1.5 lt of stock, but you can also add water if needed)

Place the spaghetti directly into a large pan and cook with the stock as if it was a risotto. Add the beetroot extract and stir as you go and add more stock/water if it is drying out too much. Do not season at this time as by reducing the stock will get more flavourful. Add more extract for a redder effect and enhanced beets’ flavour if you like.

While the pasta cooks dress the prawn tails with olive oil, salt and pepper and a little lemon zest. Mix well and let them sit 5 minutes outside the fridge. When the pasta is cooked the water/stock should be absorbed and look like a sauce. Now remove the pan from the stove and add butter and a drizzle of olive oil, stir and toss with energy to emulsify the fats and season to taste. Plate immediately, top with the prawns and garnish with fresh basil leaves and fresh lemon zest.