This post is my final post in the #myfamilylens competition, sponsored by Olympus and part of #voicesof2014, organised by Kidspot. All images in this post have been taken with the Olympus OM-D E-M10. The prompt I have chosen is Favourite.
Growing up, I ate a lot of prawns. Dad was a very keen fisherman, and if it was prawn season he would be out there every night, with his home made underwater-torch-on-a-broom-handle-prawn-attracter, bringing home prawns by the bucket. This would mean we ate prawns for breakfast, lunch and tea. Did we appreciate it? NO! My sister and I would open our lunchboxes, check our sandwiches, and roll our eyes before trying to swap for something exotic, like lemon spread. These days prawns are my absolute favourite, and every time I eat them I think of all those swapped sandwiches at school. At least someone appreciated them.
Today at the fish market, I couldn't go past these giant tiger prawns. I almost did because of the price, but ended up getting half a kilo of these, and half a kilo of calamari which are both favourites of the children in this house. Tomorrow morning I am off to ProBlogger for three days, and I like to cook something special the night before I go away, to make them miss me just that little bit more. I told Mr BC of this plan and he admitted to feeding them rubbish while I was gone in a ploy to make them miss me, but I suspect they actually like his famous 'Dad's Surf and Turf' i.e. a fish finger and a sausage on the same plate. We don't really have the same agenda at all, what do you think?
Garlic Prawn and Calamari Pasta with Broccoli
Ingredients
Method
The method is also printed in one lump at the bottom to make it easy to copy or print, and there is even a bonus section on cooking this recipe for fussy children!
Check out these prawns! Incredible. I am super impressed with the way the Olympus OM-D E-M10 really captures every glossy delicious detail.
Huge. HUGE prawns. Much different from my school lunches. Amazingly fresh, I think they were caught this morning and in the fish market by lunch, which is when I bought them. Peel and devein these babies, then rinse them in a colander with the calamari.
Cut the broccoli into sections, I like to include some of the stem. It doesn't make sense to just cut the florets off and discard the stem! I steamed these in the microwave and refreshed them under some cold tap water so that they'd keep their brightness.
Finely mince some fresh garlic (and chili if you are using) and fry it off in some olive oil just until it loosens up - don't burn it or it will be bitter and ruin the sweetness of the prawns. Add the seafood and stir until cooked, then add the broccoli and finally the cooked pasta. Make sure the pasta is still warm so it can soak up all the delicious flavours in the pan. Stir through rocket and squeeze in the lemon, and you are good to go!
Garlic Prawn and Calamari Pasta with Broccoli
Ingredients
Growing up, I ate a lot of prawns. Dad was a very keen fisherman, and if it was prawn season he would be out there every night, with his home made underwater-torch-on-a-broom-handle-prawn-attracter, bringing home prawns by the bucket. This would mean we ate prawns for breakfast, lunch and tea. Did we appreciate it? NO! My sister and I would open our lunchboxes, check our sandwiches, and roll our eyes before trying to swap for something exotic, like lemon spread. These days prawns are my absolute favourite, and every time I eat them I think of all those swapped sandwiches at school. At least someone appreciated them.
Today at the fish market, I couldn't go past these giant tiger prawns. I almost did because of the price, but ended up getting half a kilo of these, and half a kilo of calamari which are both favourites of the children in this house. Tomorrow morning I am off to ProBlogger for three days, and I like to cook something special the night before I go away, to make them miss me just that little bit more. I told Mr BC of this plan and he admitted to feeding them rubbish while I was gone in a ploy to make them miss me, but I suspect they actually like his famous 'Dad's Surf and Turf' i.e. a fish finger and a sausage on the same plate. We don't really have the same agenda at all, what do you think?
Garlic Prawn and Calamari Pasta with Broccoli
Ingredients
- 500g of the best prawns you can find, peeled and deveined
- 500g of calamari
- olive oil
- minced chili to taste (optional but delicious)
- minced garlic to taste
- 1 head of broccoli, cut into sections
- a large handful of fresh rocket, straight from the garden (optional but delicious)
- 1 packet of pasta of your choice, cooked and drained.
- 1 lemon
The method is also printed in one lump at the bottom to make it easy to copy or print, and there is even a bonus section on cooking this recipe for fussy children!
Check out these prawns! Incredible. I am super impressed with the way the Olympus OM-D E-M10 really captures every glossy delicious detail.
Huge. HUGE prawns. Much different from my school lunches. Amazingly fresh, I think they were caught this morning and in the fish market by lunch, which is when I bought them. Peel and devein these babies, then rinse them in a colander with the calamari.
Cut the broccoli into sections, I like to include some of the stem. It doesn't make sense to just cut the florets off and discard the stem! I steamed these in the microwave and refreshed them under some cold tap water so that they'd keep their brightness.
Finely mince some fresh garlic (and chili if you are using) and fry it off in some olive oil just until it loosens up - don't burn it or it will be bitter and ruin the sweetness of the prawns. Add the seafood and stir until cooked, then add the broccoli and finally the cooked pasta. Make sure the pasta is still warm so it can soak up all the delicious flavours in the pan. Stir through rocket and squeeze in the lemon, and you are good to go!
Ingredients
- 500g of the best prawns you can find, peeled and deveined
- 500g of calamari
- olive oil
- minced chili to taste (optional but delicious)
- minced garlic to taste
- 1 head of broccoli, cut into sections
- a large handful of fresh rocket, straight from the garden (optional but delicious)
- 1 packet of pasta of your choice, cooked and drained.
- 1 lemon
Method
- Quickly steam the broccoli, but don't over cook it. If you rinse it under cold water after you cook it, it will stay beautifully green while until you need it. No one likes sad grey broccoli!
- In a wok, stir fry the garlic and chili in a glug of olive oil for a minute or two, don't let it burn.
- Add the prawns and calamari and toss for a few minutes.
- Add the broccoli and continue cooking until the seafood is perfectly cooked, then add in the pasta and rocket if you are using it, toss until everything is mixed and the rocket is a little bit wilted.
- Add a big theatrical squeeze of lemon, and serve!
Fussy Child Friendly Version
- Do not use chili.
- Do not use rocket.
- Do not use any lemon for heavens sake!
- Ensure you use pasta that is pleasing to the child.
- Set aside some plain pasta for when the child tries it, but doesn't like it.
- Serve the children first then add chili for the grown ups.
- Be so hungry you forget all about the rocket and lemon. Be a little sad about it.
- Inhale the garlic deliciousness with a nice glass of wine.
This post is part of the #myfamilylens competition, sponsored by Olympus and organised by Kidspot as part of #voicesof2014. All images in this post were taken using the Olympus OM-D E-M10, I used the camera's inbuilt WiFi functionality to transfer images to my phone, where I used the Olympus Image Share App to apply art filters to the images. This is my final installment in the #myfamilylens competition and I don't mind telling you I am sad at the thought of sending this camera back, it has been a pleasure to use and has added value to the way I take, share and store photos. I wish I had enough time to master video! Don't you think a House of Chaos Cookery series would be just darling? Me too...