Prawn pasta. Not just any prawn pasta. A rich but silky (and garlicky) tomato sauce clinging to chewy fettuccini noodles tossed with juicy tender garlic butter prawns. These giant piles of pasta are then spiked with wilted spinach and topped with aggressive amounts of parmesan cheese. If this pasta is any kind of wrong, then we never want to be right! And of course, all the ingredients are from Aldi. I won't lie. These prawns really did wow me!
Soooo, how fancy does this look? But the true secret to this gorgeous (restaurant calibre) pasta dinner is a 30-minute meal. Ummmm, yeah. You heard me. 30 minutes between you and silky noodles, juicy tender shrimp, and a rich but a little sweet and tangy fresh tomato sauce. If you're not sold yet, then I don't know what to tell ya!
Tomato Spinach Prawn Pasta
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Ingredients needed for making Prawn Pasta
- Raw jumbo king prawns (in the freezer section)
- Tagliatelle
- Cherry tomatoes
- Chopped tomatoes
- Spinach
- Garlic
- Onion
- Vegetable stock
- Olive oil
- Butter
- Parmesan cheese
Making 30-minute prawn pasta step by step
- Make sure that the prawns are defrosted before you start. To defrost properly, place the bag of frozen prawns in a bowl or on a tray and place them at the bottom of the fridge overnight. Or place the bag in a bowl of cold water for about 1 hour before cooking. *Quick note- These prawns do need to be peeled before cooking, but they've already been split making it really easy and a job that should only take about 2 minutes.
- Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a non-stick frying pan and add in the garlic. Let it heat up until the garlic is fragrant. Add some butter and let it start to foam slightly. Now add the prawns and cook them for about 3 minutes, until they turn from black to pink and firm up. Remove them to a plate and set aside.
- In a high sided deep skillet, heat some olive oil. Add in the onion and garlic and let them soften and become fragrant. Add the cherry tomatoes to the skillet and let them cook until they soften and start to burst. Once they have burst, add the tinned chopped tomatoes and vegetable broth to the pan and let it all come to a simmer. Let the sauce simmer for about 5 minutes, until the sauce has thickened and will cling to the noodles.
- Add the spinach to the sauce and mix it through. The heat from the sauce will wilt the spinach without any need to keep simmering.
Serving Prawn Pasta
- Once the sauce is done, toss the cooked pasta through the sauce and snuggle the prawns back in. Top everything with chopped parsley or basil if you like.
- This pasta dish is perfect to serve straight from the pan with tongs if you're having a casual pasta night. If you're having a date night or want something a little bit fancier, then divide the pasta into bowls topping with the prawns and chopped parsley.
Reasons to make this prawn pasta
This pasta is
- healthy (fresh tomatoes, spinach and lean protein)
- easy to make (30 minutes)
- adaptable (add in extra vegetables or a splash of cream to make a rose sauce)
- and pasta is just so. darn. good!!!!
More Easy Pasta Recipes
Tools used to make this Prawn Pasta
Tomato Spinach Prawn Pasta
Ingredients
- 5 cloves (5 cloves) garlic, minced
- 1 (1) yellow onion, chopped
- 1 (1) punnet cherry tomatoes
- 400 g (2 ½ cups) tin chopped tomatoes
- 250 ml (1 cups) vegetable stock, made from a stock cube
- 200 g (6 ⅓ cups) baby spinach
- 1 (1) bag jumbo king prawns, frozen section at Aldi
- 2 tablespoons (2 tablespoons) olive oil
- 2 tablespoons (2 tablespoons) butter
- 400 g (1 ⅗ cups) dried tagliatelle
- parmesan cheese for serving
Instructions
- Make sure that the prawns are defrosted before you start. Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a non-stick frying pan and add 2 cloves of minced garlic. Let it heat up until the garlic is fragrant. Add the butter and let it start to foam slightly. Now add the prawns and cook them for about 3 minutes, until they turn from black to pink and firm up. Remove them to a plate and set aside.
- Cook the tagliatelle according to the package instructions, drain and set aside while you make the sauce.
- In a high sided deep skillet, heat some olive oil. Add in the onion and remaining garlic and let them soften and become fragrant. Add the cherry tomatoes to the skillet and let them cook until they soften and start to burst. Once they have burst, add the tinned chopped tomatoes and vegetable broth to the pan and let it all come to a simmer. Let the sauce simmer for about 5- 8 minutes, until the sauce has thickened and will cling to the noodles. Remove the pan from the heat.
- Add the spinach to the sauce and mix it through. The heat from the sauce will wilt the spinach without any need to keep simmering.
- Once the sauce is done, toss the cooked pasta through the sauce and snuggle the prawns back in. Top everything with chopped parsley or basil if you like.
- This pasta dish is perfect to serve straight from the pan with tongs if you're having a casual pasta night. If you're having a date night or want something a little bit fancier, then divide the pasta into bowls topping with the prawns and chopped parsley.
Notes
- To defrost properly, place the bag of frozen prawns in a bowl or on a tray and place them at the bottom of the fridge overnight. Or place the bag in a bowl of cold water for about 1 hour before cooking. *Quick note- These prawns do need to be peeled before cooking, but they've already been split making it really easy and a job that should only take about 2 minutes.
Nutrition
THANKS SO MUCH FOR READING AND COOKING ALONG WITH ME! IF YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE OR HAVE A QUESTION, I’D LOVE IT IF YOU LEFT A COMMENT AND A RATING. YOU CAN ALSO FOLLOW ALONG ON PINTEREST, FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM TO SEE WHAT WE’RE EATING, PINNING AND A LITTLE BEHIND THE SCENES TOO!
Mariya
How much garlic do you use for the prawns and how much do you use for the sauce?
There’s not enough information for someone like me who needs step by step instructions
Deborah Rainford
Thanks so much for pointing that out. I've gone through the recipe again and made the instructions more clear and added a couple of extra notes so the recipe is easier to follow. Hope that helps. 🙂