Diavola Shrimp Spaghetti Recipe (Video)

This recipe is the perfect choice for a lazy, kick back Thursday dinner. It’s so easy to prepare and I can’t stress enough on how immensely fuss free it is. It takes no skill to prepare if you follow these instructions.

In the UAE we are so lucky to have the freshest seafood at our door step. I love going to the water front fish market in Dubai and spend a good 3 hours there.

HOW do you choose fresh seafood? In one of my earlier salmon recipes I discussed what to look for and what to avoid when choosing fish. Today I would like to give you a few tips on how to choose your shrimp. It is very important to handle seafood safely as it can cause serious food poisoning. Sadly, many vendors will deceive you to shift the old catch, so, remember these few rules when choosing shrimps:

• The flesh should be firm and plump.

• The skin should be translucent and shiny.

• There would be no smell or a very mild non-offensive odour. If you smell ammonia this is a sign of old and deteriorated shrimps.

• If the shells and the heads have black spots or black edges especially at the bottom side - stay away. But do not get confused with tiger shrimp which naturally has black stripes.

• Always buy Shrimp that is laying on a bed of ice or stored in a fridge.

• Buy from a busy supermarket or fish monger as the stock is replenished regularly.

Below I would like to share with you a few tips for safe transporting and storing of seafood:

• As the heat is intensive in the Arabian Gulf make sure you bring a cool box with ice to store the bought seafood.

• Always place the bags on a plate on the lower shelf of the refrigerator, this is for better food hygiene practice in the case some of the juices leak out.

• Use the seafood within 24 hours for maximum freshness.

Servings: 2

Preparation Time: 5 minutes

Start to finish: 25 minutes

Ingredients:

• 250 grams Whole wheat spaghetti

• 3 cloves garlic

• 3 tablespoons olive oil

• 1 tomato

• 14 shrimp

• chili flakes

• parsley

• salt

Method:

* Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta according to manufacturer’s instructions.

* Deseed the tomato and cut it into thin slices or small cubes.

* Chop the garlic and fry in the olive oil, once turning golden add the prawns and sauté for 2 minutes.

* Add the sliced tomato and chili flakes then sauté for a further 4 minutes until the shrimp is cooked, season with salt.

* When the pasta is al dente drain and toss with the prawn sauce and Finnish with the parsley.

Tips:

* In Italy they add some zucchini instead of the tomato.

* You can substitute the shrimps with calamari or any type of seafood.

* Adding a splash of white wine during the cooking will enhance the flavour.

Per Serving: 665 Calories; 23g Fat (29.4% calories from fat); 27g Protein; 96g Carbohydrate; 10g Dietary Fiber; 64mg Cholesterol; 73mg Sodium.