Prawn Barchetta Pasta with Coriander Oil

This was an incredible day! I was making pasta from scratch, I was being taught by one of the coolest chefs I know and we collaborated to make this stunning DISH!

I am talking about Chef Imran Kidd, pasta maestro and IG-feeding the world with his satisfying photos and videos, one pasta shape at a time. Click here to read my fun interview with Chef Imran and get to know a little more about him and his passion for pasta.

Not only did Chef Imran showed me the technique, trips and tricks to making pasta from scratch, we also cooked a dish together! Italian cuisine is about simplicity using amazingly fresh produce, with many pasta recipes featuring just a few key ingredients. But it’s the quality of the ingredients, the passion for cooking and letting all the flavours come together that make these dishes truly shine (and why we love them so much)!

Before we met on the day of the shoot, I had the idea of making a simple pasta dish using the freshest ingredients available for an Asian kitchen. So while the techniques you’ll find in this recipe are definitely Italian, a couple of the key ingredients used here are not typically Italian. Read on to find out. 

With more than 8,000 glorious kilometres of coastline,  Italians love their frutti di mar. We Singaporeans, being proud islanders, also love our seafood! So it was very easy for me to decide on making a seafood pasta, and I narrowed it down to fresh PRAWNS.

Let’s talk about the pasta. Prior to our shoot, I’ve shared details of the pasta recipe with Chef Imran and he suggested the cutest little pasta for this sauce: the barchetta pasta.

The Barchetta pasta meaning little boats is named after exactly what it looks like! They are adorable! But the shape serves a very important function as vessels to carry the sauce and the chopped up pieces of prawns! Barchetta is a traditional pasta that is probably only made by Italian nonnas at home. If you do a quick Google search for “Barchetta pasta” you probably can’t find much information about it. You would rarely get this exquisite pasta shape served in restaurants. So I cannot begin to describe my honour in being able to work with Chef Imran’s handmade Barchetta pasta. 

You can of course use other pastas, including non-egg ones for this dish such as spaghetti or linguine or orecchiette.

P.s. If you are interested in learning more about these pasta shapes, easily check out Chef Imran’s page where he offers classes on how to make a variety of pasta shapes paired with his specialty Asian fusion and even burnt butter sauce.

Coriander Oil for Pasta

Though coriander is not what you would call a typical Italian herb, many of us Asians love it! And I for one, absolutely cannot live without coriander! It is a strong herb with a sharp floral-citrusy aroma. One of the best things about coriander is that it is flavourful from its roots to the tip of the leaves. Even coriander seeds have a distinct and unmistakable flavour, used extensively in many cuisines from Indonesian to Indian. For this dish, the coriander oil will be used as a finishing touch. I will only be using the leaves and stems for making the oil and will reserve the roots for later. The oil is a beautiful emerald green and adds a subtle floral aroma to this dish. You can use it to drizzle your seafood pastas, noodles and even use it for a tossed Asian-style salad.

And if you are not a fan of coriander, you can still make this recipe by omitting the coriander oil! It will still taste divine! 

Start the recipe by making the coriander oil first. Cut off the roots (save some for later) and blanch in boiling water with salt for about 1-2 minutes. Quickly transfer the blanched coriander into an ice cold bath and let it sit for about 1 minute to cool down completely.  

Pat the coriander in a dry tea towel to remove excess moisture. Place the coriander in a blender with a neutral vegetable oil and blend at high speed until it turns into a smooth puree. 

Pour the puree into a pan and cook on medium heat. Let simmer, while whisking for 3 minutes. Lastly, sieve the puree using a cheesecloth or coffee filter. I’ve used a typical kopi sock¹ 🧦 which, I must say, does a brilliant job! Let this cool completely before using. 

Pasta Sauce

With prawns, Singaporeans would usually enjoy them grilled over charcoal, or stir fried with butter, curry leaves and of course, instant cereal resulting in Singapore’s famous Crispy Cereal Prawn that usually sits next to the Chilli Crab in every Tze Char restaurant. Prawn broth is also a major component in noodle dishes such as Hokkien Mee and Prawn Noodles.

Starting off with the prawns, separate the body from the head and squeeze out the prawn head juice into a small bowl. The head juice of a fresh prawn holds so much flavour! Some Italians even consume them raw, because that is just how FRESH their seafood is! I would not advise consuming raw prawns here unless you are pretty certain of its freshness and origin.

With the prawn head juice, pour in an equal amount of olive oil and begin to whisk until it becomes a  bright red-orange emulsion. This emulsion is going to add richness and sweetness to the pasta dish, just watch and see. Leave it aside.

Continue to devein and deshell the prawns and chop prawns into small pieces. The shells and the er….. “empty” prawn heads will be used a little later.

Next, start boiling water for the pasta. While waiting for the water to boil, prepare the aromatics. I’ve used chopped garlic, smashed chilli padi using my mortar. 

By now, your water should be boiling. Season with a generous amount of salt. Cook the barchetta for 4 minutes. If you are using any other pasta, check the package instructions and cook for 2 minutes less than the requirement. 

PRO TIP: This is quite a quick recipe so ensure you have all your ingredients laid out in front of you. 

In a large cold pan, add olive oil, garlic, chilli padi and coriander roots then turn on the heat on medium. Once it starts sizzling, cook for a further minute or two before adding the prawns heads and shells. Increase heat to medium high. Once the shells have turned pink, remove them along with the coriander roots.

In the same pan, add a couple of ladles of pasta water and let it simmer for 2 minutes and meld with the pan juices. Add the cooked pasta and toss. Follow with the chopped prawns and toss lightly until the prawns are almost cooked. Add salt and black pepper to taste.

Lastly, add the prawn emulsion and continue to toss until the sauce turns creamy. Give the sauce a taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.

Plating

Plate the pasta and top it off with some drops of the coriander oil. Because this is such a special collab, I’ve went ahead and bought some ebiko and edible flowers to try and impress Chef Imran 🤣. Garnish the plate until it is beautiful in your eyes. You can make it as simple or as fancy as you wish, this pasta dish is gonna blow your mind! Enjoy making this prawn barchetta pasta!

Our reaction to this pasta was a little dramatic but let me tell you, IT WAS THAT GOOD! Check out our video together here!

I hope you try out this recipe and love it as much as I did! 

Reference

¹ Kopi Sock is a tightly knitted piece of fabric attached to a metal wire. It is a traditional and iconic tool used in Singapore and many other countries to brew and filter coffee.