I never thought saffron could be used in Italian cuisine untill I did some research. I found out that Saffron is used in Italian cuisine in Risotto and also in modern Pasta recipes.
I Love pastas that are in form of ribbons, one of my favourite is Delmonte’s Tagliatelle Pasta, you can see more on their Facebook Page. They are small discs of ribbons, its easy to retain the shape while cooking and looks sophisticated. This was the first time I worked with white wine and what can I tell you, once you use wine it gives out all the aromas which comes out of a professional kitchen. Finally a must try recipe invented out of my humble kitchen. The pasta is creamy with the lovely hint of saffron which makes the dish look amazing and gives a distinct flavour, the mushroom adds to the texture. The prawns taste great with the crispy basil (I know that I have displayed less basil but make sure you add more of the crispy basil which has a unique salt and sweet taste from the prawn) and the basil infused oil adds to the richness of the dish.
Recipe for 1 Portion- Cooking time around 1 hour
Ingredients
- Delmonte Tagliatelle pasta 2-3 discs
- Water for boiling pasta with salt
For the Sauce
- Garlic- 5-6 cloves crushed
- Mushrooms 5-6 finely chopped – I used Button mushrooms
- White wine- 1/4 cup
- Saffron – a big pinch
- Fresh cream- 3 big Tbspn
- Parsley – 2-3 tsp finely chopped
- Thyme – 1 tsp finely chopped
- Grated parmesan cheese – 1-2 tsp
- Salt
- Crushed Pepper
- Butter + Olive Oil
For the basil prawn
- Prawn 4-5 big
- Lemon juice 1/2 tsp
- Salt
- Pepper
- White wine- 2-3 tsp
- Basil leaves 10 leaves chopped
- Olive oil 1/2 cup
For Garnish: Olive, Parsley
Preparation
Cook Tagliatelle Pasta in a pot of boiling water and salt till it turns soft and keep aside. You can remove the strands if you like. Also retain the pasta water for the sauce.
Soak 3-4 large prawns in a pinch of salt, pepper and 1/2 tsp lemon juice.
Recipe of Sauce
Soak a big pinch of Saffron in 1/4 cup of white wine for 5 mins.
In a pan add 1 tsp butter with 1 tsp olive oil and add crushed garlic and sautee. To this Add mushrooms cut into very tiny pieces and sautee till mushrooms are soft.
Add the saffron and wine mixture and let it boil till all the alcohol burns out. It will take 2-3 mins.
Now add 3 big Tbspn of fresh Cream and blend.
Add chopped parsley, thyme and grated cheese and blend. Now that your sauce is ready make sure the thickness is correct, the sauce needs to be runny, so add some pasta water if the sauce is too thick.
Recipe of Basil Prawn and Basil Infused olive oil
In a pan add butter/olive oil and roast the prawn, 2 mins on each side. Now add 2-3 tspn of white wine and let it cook for 2 mins. This will de-glaze the pan.
Add 1/2 cup of olive oil in the pan and keep the stove on low heat.
To this add chopped Basil leaves till they crackle and turn off the flame.
Now strain the oil using a small sieve and keep the prawn and crispy basil aside.
Final Plating
Heat the sauce and add the Pasta, Gently make sure sauce coats the pasta on both side. You can take sauce from the sides and pour it on the side that is facing up and turn off the flame.
Place the Pasta as a disc on one side of the plate. If your pasta has come out of the loop use a fork to bring the spiral together. Arrange the prawn and crispy basil on the other side. Serve the strained oil separately or pour it all over your pasta and prawn.
Finally Garnish with parsley leaves and olives.
Tips
1- Make sure you use a very fine sieve to seperate the oil and basil prawn as you dont want to find tiny bits of basil in the oil
2- Put a lot of crispy basil on the plate along with the prawn. It was so yummy that I ate most of it while making it. lol..
3- Using mushrooms are totally optional, I used it since my husband likes mushrooms
4- You can add more pepper if you dont like the bland taste but lets enjoy the flavours and not add Indian masalas to the pasta.
