thepassionatecook: Spaghetti with tomato, prawn & watercress

I feel a quick weekday pasta recipe is in order... I haven't had much time for cooking lately, let alone for writing up recipes - too much studying going on, lamentably!

This is a super-quick recipe you can whip up in 15 minutes - and that includes boiling the pasta... count in some extra for cracking open a bottle of white to go with it, but this is to show that fast food doesn't need to come out of a plastic tray, you can still eat healthily, provided you have a chance to do some shopping on the way home, of course!

For those of you who even find the trip to the supermarket unmanageable on an average day, there's help at hand if you live in the London area: it's been a little while now, but the lovely Farnleigh of SCRATCH dropped off one of her food samples at mine and I whipped it up for a quick lunch. I have always wondered who would step into Rocket's footsteps and it seems we now have a more than suitable successor! Meals from Scratch provide meal kits that allow you to enjoy a freshly cooked meal with minimum effort and maximum flavour... their delicious creations come with pre-chopped vegeables, everthing in the right amounts, perfect for workoholics, but also a real treat for singles who only ever need half an onion and a dash of cream for a recipe and end up throwing most of what they buy away.

I've only tried the "Crayfish, tomato and feta pasta" they had at the time, but the rest of the range sounds equally delicious and changes regularly so you don't get bored... give them a try, they're available at St. Pancras Station and various other places around town.

Spaghetti with tomato, prawn & watercress
(serves 4)

1 tsp ghee (or butter)
1 large red onion (peeled and thinly sliced)
3 cloves garlic (peeled & crushed)
200 g plum tomatoes (quartered)
100 ml sherry oloroso
1 can tomatoes (440g)
1 tsp brown sugar
a pinch of peperoncino
300 g uncooked, peeled prawns
2 handful watercress (roughly chopped)
400 g spaghetti
grated parmesan to serve

Heat some water in a large pot on the stove for the spaghetti.

Heat the ghee/butter in a frying pan, add the onions and garlic and cook until soft and starting to brown, about 2 minutes. Add the plum tomatoes and the sherry, leave to reduce for three minutes. Add the canned tomatoes, sugar and peperoncino to taste, bring to a vigorous boil.

Add the spaghetti to the boiling water and cook to packet instructions.

When the tomato sauce is boiling, add the prawns and cook for 2 minutes on high heat. Take off the heat and just before serving, stir in the watercress.

Serve the spaghetti with the sauce and some grated parmesan to taste.