P&P-- Prawn on Pasta

No one needs a special occasion to make dinner special. It's the company and conversation. Well... a glass of good wine can help the conversation going. This dish is an example of something simple but looks gorgeous and tastes really good. It's sort of down home if you serve it family style and it can also look classy as dinner-for-two and wine.

My husband loooves shrimps and prawns. Apparently, it's contagious because so do my sons. And because it can get pricey-- serving shrimps or prawns IS in itself an occasion! And so it always deserves a place in the weekend table.

When there is time to savor every bite...to talk about stuff from serious to utterly mundane... to laugh at unexpected jokes. Then again, when you have males at the diner table, somehow eating is at a rocket's pace!

My Mom's default gift for my husband is always 2 packs of succulent prawns, and obviously he is not complaining. So one I'm-not-yet-done-with-the-grocery weekend, with a pack defrosting in the refrigerator, I whipped out what could be found in my pantry and fridge.

I saw light mayo, grated quezo de bola, all-purpose cream, fresh tomatoes, spaghetti noodles.

Hmmmm, there's a possibility here I told myself. I really have no recipe as basis on this one, but I think it's like thermidore or croque monsiuer inspired.

It turned out pre-tty gooood and a change from the usual. I plated it for picture's sake, but I served it family style for my small but hungry brood. If you have all-male diners, you make sure everybody has an equal share. I kept the prawn head on, because it looks more appetizing that way. Besides, I get to eat them :-)

• 12 prawns- split the back and devein, leave tail in-tact
• 1 T light mayo
• 4-5 T grated cheese (quezon de bola, parmesan or romano)
• 1/2 T all purpose cream
• ground pepper to taste
• Optional: 1 T finely chopped flat-leaf parsley

200 grm pack spaghetti noodles, cooked al dente in water with lots of salt

1/2 k fresh tomatoes, sliced and dried over low heat in the oven

olive oil

2 T garlic slivers

salt and pepper to taste

Mix light mayo, grated cheese, all-purpose cream to form a soft paste. Put a small knob in the slit made on the back of the prawn. Drizzle some olive oil on a pyrex dish and lay prawns side by side. Drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with freshly ground pepper. Cook in the oven till orangy-pink.

Be carefull not to overcook as you will have shrivelled and rubber prawns. Set aside.

In a deep pan, simply saute garlic in olive oil, add oven-dried tomatoes. Get the noodles out of the pot and put into the pan. Mix well, add salt and pepper to taste. For family-style serving, get a big platter, place shrimps on top, pour the oil and prawn juices from the pyrex dish onto the pasta.

Sprinkle with grated cheese and serve immediately. It's a healthy, clean-tasting, good-for-you dish. Enjoy!

Shortcut Tip: If you have no time for oven-dried tomatoes, you can always get a jar of sundried tomato pesto. :-)

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