Tunisians are one of the biggest pasta eaters on the planet and they have a whole load of their own pasta shapes and techniques. Harissa really amplifies the sweetness of the prawns here – delicious!
Ingredients
150g dried spaghetti
8 large raw shell-on king prawns, from sustainable sources
2 teaspoons rose harissa
½ a bunch of flat-leaf parsley (15g)
1 lemon
Method
- Cook the pasta in a pan of boiling salted water according to the packet instructions. Meanwhile, peel the prawns, removing and reserving the heads and leaving the tails on. I like to run a small sharp knife down the back of each, discarding the vein, so they butterfly when they cook.
- Toss the prawns with the harissa and leave to briefly marinate. Place the prawn heads in a large frying pan on a medium heat with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and fry until golden all over, stirring regularly and gently squashing to extract amazing flavour.
- Roughly chop and reserve the top leafy half of the parsley, then finely slice the stalks and add them to the pan with a pinch of sea salt and black pepper. Fry for 1 minute, then add the marinated prawns and cook for 1 minute on each side.
- Using tongs, drag the pasta into the pan, squeeze in half the lemon juice, throw in the parsley leaves, then toss together, loosening with a splash of starchy cooking water, if needed.
- To serve, pick out and discard the crispy prawn heads and cut the remaining lemon half into wedges for squeezing over.
