Spaghetti with Green Parsley Pesto and Prawns

In April, just after Easter, I had an extraordinary honour. I was invited to an away session organised by Think Tank on the future of the world. We were to consider what the world would look like in 100 years. After the summer holidays, you will even be able to buy a book about it. Hmm, one that I am supposedly co-authoring. At first I wondered why I had been invited, but really, “who cares”. I went and, among many distinguished guests, spent a truly fantastic 3 days in Bukowina. So the occasion was not only exceptionally ambitious, but had an exceptional atmosphere too.

BTW, I had never been to Białka before. Zakopane, ages ago. I had somehow fallen out of the habit of visiting the Polish mountains, and I must admit that in April, without the crowds I always remembered from those parts, they make quite an impression. I recommend visiting.

I do not want to bore you here on Prymitywna with what the world will look like in 100 years, because why would you care? Especially since none of us will be here then. Although perhaps that is precisely why we should care. Anyway, if you do, go to Think Tank’s website (the link was up above) and look out for the book’s release so you can read it.

What I wanted to write about here is how you can dig yourself into a hole. Read: bury yourself, or burn yourself 😉 Imagine going to this meeting for the first time. There were roughly 60 participants. Everyone received biographies of the other participants a few days before the session, and it turned out they were remarkable people, some public figures, intellectuals. Among them were journalists (proper journalists), academics (greetings here to the strong contingent from the University of Warsaw and my colleague from the Jagiellonian Institute ;), people from business and Culture, and writers. Quite a line-up, and… it turned out that of those 60 people, I knew three personally (in words: three, yes, three). Good on the one hand, because it meant I could meet people, but on the other, before we had got to know each other, keeping up might be hard (those biographies were seriously impressive), because there were 60 remarkable people and me. Never mind. It is not for me to judge how it went; this was supposed to be about digging myself into a hole, whether you want to read about it or not.

So, as at most meetings of this kind, we began with introductions. We sat in a huge room and everyone said who they were or whether they rode a Harley. At a moment like that, I do not think anyone, however confident, can avoid wondering how to introduce themselves, especially after the previous… forty-odd introductions. Or avoid revising that introduction in their head, thinking about keeping it brief while squeezing as much as possible into that essence. Especially when you are still unsure why you have been invited. So I talked about genes (to explain my weight: my genes are so good that I quit smoking, and everyone knows you gain weight when you quit—there’s your connection), sociology, Mongolia, Jobsquare (which was the most important bit, although it probably did not sound that way) and Prymitywna Kuchnia.

Yes, I said publicly that I used to be a food blogger (in the past tense, because there had not been a new post for ages). But a blogger regularly read by tens of thousands of people. Not hugely popular, but someone does read me. The magic of SEO. As tends to happen in these situations, if anyone remembered my introduction, that was the part they remembered. What is your blog called, they asked? And then I had to explain where Grochola or some Coelho gets their inspiration, and why the photos are so unlovely. But that was nothing. Something happened the next day.

At breakfast, one of the participants sat down beside me; I had not caught what he did from his introduction the previous day. He asked about the blog, and I talked, explained, tried to account for the habits of you Poles and why you visit such an ugly old blog at all. Despite those unstyled phone photos. Despite the silly introductions, unlike those of the cake ladies or the various Jadłonomia-style blogs. I went on at length, trying to give the impression that I knew at least a little about cooking. After all, once I had said I had a food blog, in for a penny, in for a pound—and then some. My companion just listened and nodded. It was extremely pleasant, actually; thank you, Łukasz.

And you know what? After that breakfast, someone later asked my companion about the best restaurants in Warsaw. Places with really good food, and Łukasz turned out to be Modelski. Well, those are the moments when you are briefly lost for words and all you can do is nod along yourself.

Nevertheless, after that rather long (and not very funny, as Łazuka says on Wojewódzki’s show) anecdote, I still recommend my Polish, primitive variation on green parsley pesto with prawns. I wonder, actually, how a real expert would judge it. Written and recommended by me, the amateur at prymitywnakuchnia dot pl.

Recipe details:

Preparation time: about 25 minutes

Serves: 2 portions

Calories: you tell me, and I will nod along 😉

Ingredients for pasta with prawns in a mild green pesto:

• a handful of spaghetti for two people
• 16 tiger prawns (mine were frozen tiger prawns with shells and legs, so I will explain how to prepare those; you can actually treat raw ones the same way 🙂
• green parsley pesto (just click to see the recipe for making it in 5 minutes)
• half a fresh red chilli pepper
• 2 cloves garlic (preferably young Polish garlic)
• half a glass of dry white wine
• a piece of Parmesan (about 3 decagrams)
• a few fresh green parsley leaves
• a pinch of black pepper (freshly ground)
• a pinch of salt
• olive oil (for frying)

Recipe for spaghetti with green parsley pesto and prawns:

I put the frozen prawns in a bowl and poured boiling water over them. After 2 – 3 minutes, I drained them and repeated the process. In other words, I poured boiling water over them again. After just a minute, I drained them and covered them with cold water. The prawns should change from whatever colour they were (mine were grey 🙂 to salmon pink (the magic of colours). I shelled them (I have a method: I start with the tail, then pull off the legs, and the rest of the shell comes away beautifully) and dried them on kitchen paper.

I cooked the spaghetti (meaning it cooks while I prepare the prawns and pesto).

I cut the garlic and chilli into thin strips. I heated olive oil in a wok and added the garlic and chilli. I fried them briefly over a low “flame”, stirring frequently. I added the prawns, seasoned them lightly with salt and pepper, and fried them for a moment. Then I poured in the wine and simmered the prawns in it until the wine had evaporated. I added the parsley and fried them for just another moment. The prawns should curl up nicely. I took them off the “flame” (in quotation marks because, I don’t know if you remember, my “flame” is induction 🙂

I made the green parsley pesto.

Once all the components were ready—the pasta, pesto and prawns—I put the drained spaghetti into a saucepan and mixed it with the green parsley pesto. I arranged the pasta on plates, making a nest for my little birds—sorry… prawns 🙂 I served it topped with the prawns and sprinkled with freshly grated Parmesan and freshly ground black pepper to taste. The dish was ready. Enjoy 🙂

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