Prawn Linguine with Calabrian Chilli Pesto

Method

1. Bring a large pot of water to the boil and salt it properly, until it tastes like a mild broth. The pasta seasons itself here, and the sauce goes in unsalted.
2. Pat the prawns dry with paper towel and season them with salt and pepper. Dry prawns colour, wet prawns steam.
3. Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a wide frying pan over high heat until it shimmers.
4. Sear the prawns in a single layer for about 60 seconds a side, until pink at the edges, then lift them onto a plate. They are not cooked through yet and should not be.
5. Drop the linguine into the boiling water and cook it one minute short of the time on the packet.
6. Turn the pan down to medium and add the garlic. Cook for 30 seconds, until it smells sweet but has taken no colour.
7. Add the cherry tomatoes and a pinch of salt, and cook for 4 minutes, pressing them with the back of a spoon until they slump and give up their juice.
8. Take the pan off the heat. Stir in the pesto with a ladleful of the pasta water and swirl it into a loose, orange-red sauce.
9. Drain the linguine, keeping a mug of the water. Add the pasta to the pan over low heat with another splash of that water and toss hard for a minute, until the sauce turns glossy and clings to the strands instead of pooling underneath.
10. Return the prawns and any juices from the plate, then add the lemon zest, the parsley and the last tablespoon of oil. Toss for 30 seconds to warm the prawns through.
11. Taste, add a squeeze of lemon juice and more salt if it needs it, and serve straight away. Skip the parmesan: it dulls the chilli, and seafood pasta in Italy goes without.

What to do with the rest of the jar

You will have a third of a jar left. Keep it in the fridge once opened, level the surface with a film of olive oil to keep the air off it, and use it inside a couple of weeks. It does the same work in roasted aubergines and butter beans in chilli pesto, the oven-baked, meat-free counterpart to this dish, and a spoonful stirred through roast potatoes for their last ten minutes is better than it has any right to be.

Common questions

How spicy is Calabrian chilli pesto?

Warm rather than fierce. Calabrian chillies bring real heat, but this is a pesto, so the oil and the tomato carry it and the burn builds slowly instead of hitting first. We taste everything we range, and at six tablespoons across four serves most people read this as medium. Halve it for a background hum.

What pasta shape holds pesto best?

Short twisted shapes hold it best, because the sauce catches in the grooves and stays there. Fusilli and trofie are the classic choices for exactly that reason. Long strands work as long as you emulsify the sauce with pasta water first, which is the step in this recipe that matters most. Rougher, more textured pasta grips better than the slick supermarket kind, whatever the shape.

How much pesto do you need per person?

About 25g a head for a main course, so roughly a heaped tablespoon and a half each. A 170g jar feeds four with a little left over, or six if the pasta is a starter. Tomatoes carry the sauce further, so use less when they are in the pan and a little more when the pasta is the only thing on the table.

A jar of Calabrian chilli and tomato pesto is $12.95 and covers this dinner with some to spare, and the rest of the Ottolenghi range is worth a look while the water comes to the boil. Order before 12pm on a weekday and it is dispatched the same day, with free shipping Australia-wide over $100. If you are buying for a cook rather than cooking, the Ottolenghi hampers do the same job with a ribbon on it, and our Christmas hampers cover the rest of the December list.