Pasta ribbons with prawns and spinach

I didn’t make these prawns today. I had the recipe lying around half-finished because somehow I didn’t find the time last week. I’ve just finished a little project for tomorrow and now I’ve got a moment to finish writing it up (I don’t feel much like sleeping).
I also got a nudge from a discussion I rashly joined yesterday, in which somebody criticised my recipe for prawns in butter. Apparently, done that way, they’re bound to turn out “rubbery”. That got my back up. I cook prawns exceptionally often and honestly, mine have never been rubbery. Then there was “what sort of prawns are those, without parsley?” Well, it happens ;)
Anyway, to show you that I can cook prawns in next to no time too, here’s a recipe for a really good prawn pasta. Admittedly there’s no parsley, but it’s certainly quick, and there’s spinach. Let’s get to it.  

At a glance:

Prep time: 20 minutes (from start to finish)

Serves: 4 people

How many calories? Relax. If this is your main meal, you don’t need to worry.

Ingredients for a cracking prawn pasta:

•  32 cooked prawns (ideally as big as possible and peeled, right down to the tail shells. Obviously, little cocktail prawns won’t do)
• half a packet of pasta (I like ribbons with spinach because it wraps itself so nicely around them)
• a bag of fresh spinach leaves (one of those big supermarket bags)
• half a glass of dry white wine (it can be from Biedronka 🙂
• 4 cloves of garlic
• ground black pepper
• salt
• two tablespoons of butter
• olive oil

The recipe (we’re cooking noodles again):

This is a particularly rewarding dish to make. It doesn’t take much effort. I start, of course, by boiling water for the pasta and cooking the pasta (about 7 minutes for al dente). Once the pasta is cooking, I get on with the prawns and spinach. I do both at once, so be prepared to get three pans dirty.

Prawns first. If I bought frozen ones, I give them a quick defrost. I peel off the shells so you can eat the whole prawn (it’s no great hardship and afterwards you can eat the whole dish with cutlery without having to use your fingers). I cut the garlic into thin slices and add it to the butter I’ve heated in a frying pan. After about 40 seconds (don’t let the garlic start to burn), I add the prawns. I sprinkle them with a little salt and pepper. I fry them for about 3–4 minutes and pour in half a glass of dry white wine. I let them simmer briefly (the wine should evaporate quite quickly). The prawns are ready about 10 minutes after I started on them.

Meanwhile I heat some olive oil in a pot (just across the bottom) and drop the spinach leaves into it. I add pepper and a tiny bit of salt, and cook the spinach until it’s shrunk to about a tenth of its original volume (actually I’ve no idea what fraction it is, but the leaves should be dark green and there should be a lot less spinach than you started with). Once it’s ready, I set it aside (10–12 minutes should do it).

When the pasta is cooked, I drain it. As usual in my recipes, I wipe the pot dry with a towel while keeping it hot. Once the pasta has dried off, I put it back in the pot. I add the spinach and mix thoroughly. Finally, in go the prawns and everything else in the frying pan (the fat too). Another stir and voilà. Enjoy!