I love shellfish. Their marine but sweet taste tickles the palate like few things.
I learned this recipe by copying it from the owner of the fish restaurant where I did my internship before the final exam as a cook. Since then I have made it several times, especially when I have guests for dinner.

Linguine with red prawns

  • Preparation time: 60 minutes
  • Ingredients for 4 servings
  • Difficulty: Average difficulty recipe

  • Ingredients
  • 320 gr or 12 oz of linguine pasta
  • 450 gr or 1 lb of red prawns
  • Extra virgin olive oil to taste
  • Chopped pistachios to taste
  • For the bisque:
  • Shrimp heads and shells
  • 1 small carrot
  • 1 celery stalk
  • ½ onion
  • 2 tablespoons of tomato paste
  • 1/2 glass of white wine
  • Extra virgin olive oil to taste
  • 1 L or 1 US quart of ice water
  1. Instructions
  2. Wash the vegetables and cut them into large pieces.
  3. Clean the shrimp by removing the head and carapace and the bowels.
  4. Cut the pulp of the prawns coarsely and place it in a covered bowl in the refrigerator.
  5. Prepare the bisque: toast the shells and heads in oil in a saucepan. During this process, the heads should be well crushed with a wooden spoon in order to release all the flavors present.
    Add the onion, carrot, and chopped celery and continue toasting for a few minutes. Blend with the wine leaving the alcohol to evaporate. Now add the tomato paste and cook the sauce for a few minutes. Add the ice water and cook for another thirty minutes. Blend everything with a mixer and then filter with a chinoise.
  6. Boil the water in a saucepan, salt it lightly and toss the pasta.
  7. Place a few bisque ladles in a pan with a little oil.
  8. Drain the linguine “al dente” and pour into the pan to mix. Add, if necessary, more ladles of bisque.
  9. Turn off the heat and add the chopped prawns.
  10. Serve with a quenelle of raw prawns and a sprinkling of chopped pistachios.

Tips to ensure the success of the dish:

  • Roasting is an important phase because we have to reach the Maillard to give more flavor but we absolutely must not burn the mixture.
  • For the secrets of bisque look here.
  • I always add the prawns at the end of cooking so that they are lightly cooked with the heat of the pasta.