This Spicy Tomato and Prawn Pasta recipe is the weeknight hero you’ve been waiting for. With just a handful of fresh ingredients and under 20 minutes of cooking time, it’s all about simple yet bold flavours that come together effortlessly. Perfect for when you want a satisfying meal without spending hours in the kitchen. The combination of vine-ripened tomatoes, prawns, and a touch of spice makes this dish a fresh, summery go-to.
You can watch the full recipe video here.
Table of Contents
- Ingredient Breakdown
- Why Vine Cherry Tomatoes Are Key
- Elevating a Simple Tomato Sauce
- Pul Biber: The Spice That Brings It All Together
- How to Perfectly Cook the Prawns
- Bringing It All Together: Pasta and Sauce
- A Quick, Simple, and Flavour-Packed Weeknight Dinner
- More Tomatoey Pasta Recipes
Ingredient Breakdown
- Vine cherry tomatoes: Sweet and juicy, bursting with summer flavour. Don’t throw away the vines—they add an extra depth to your sauce.
- Extra-virgin olive oil: Rich and full-bodied, ideal for sautéing the garlic and tomatoes.
- Garlic: Thinly sliced, it softens and infuses the oil, creating a fragrant base.
- Pul biber (Aleppo pepper): Mild and slightly smoky, it brings just the right amount of heat.
- Raw king prawns: Quick-cooking and tender, they absorb the sauce beautifully.
- Fresh parsley: A handful of chopped parsley adds freshness and colour.
- Dried pasta: Your choice of pasta, cooked al dente, ready to soak up all that sauce.
Why Vine Cherry Tomatoes Are Key
Tomatoes, particularly vine-ripened cherry ones, are the star of this dish. They provide the balance between sweetness and acidity that’s essential in any tomato-based sauce. But here’s the secret: the tomato vines themselves hold a surprising amount of flavour. Smashing the vines with a rolling pin and adding them to the sauce while it simmers allows their oils to release, subtly enhancing the overall taste. This little trick might sound odd, but it makes a world of difference. You simply fish them out before serving, and voilà. Your sauce is richer and more complex than your average tomato-based pasta.
Elevating a Simple Tomato Sauce
Creating a great tomato sauce doesn’t have to be difficult. It’s all about layering flavours and letting the ingredients speak for themselves. The garlic and olive oil are the first step in building depth. They form the foundation of the dish, and the moment the aroma of garlic hits the oil, you’re halfway to something delicious. When the tomatoes hit the pan, they get a generous seasoning of salt and pepper. As they cook, they start to break down, releasing their juices and forming a chunky sauce. Crushing some of the tomatoes with the back of a wooden spoon helps speed up the process. It creates a sauce that’s rustic but full of character.
As the tomatoes burst and soften, their sweetness concentrates. This contrasts beautifully with the prawns’ briny flavour and the gentle heat from the pul biber. The key here is not to rush the sauce—let the tomatoes cook down until they’re thick and rich. It’s simple, but that’s where the depth lies: in the slow release of those fresh, bright flavours.
Pul Biber: The Spice That Brings It All Together
Pul biber, or Aleppo pepper, is the unsung hero of this Spicy Tomato and Prawn Pasta. It’s mild, slightly smoky, and adds a subtle heat without overwhelming the other flavours. If you can’t get your hands on pul biber, a simple substitute of half the amount of chilli flakes plus a pinch of smoked paprika will work just fine. What’s great about pul biber is how it balances the sweetness of the tomatoes and the richness of the prawns. It adds just enough warmth to bring everything together, making the dish more dynamic.
This isn’t a “burn-your-mouth” kind of heat. Instead, it gently lifts the flavours, giving the dish a more rounded, complete taste. If you enjoy a bit of spice but don’t want it to dominate, pul biber is your go-to.
How to Perfectly Cook the Prawns
One of the most crucial steps in this recipe is ensuring the prawns are cooked perfectly. Overcooked prawns can become rubbery and unpleasant, so it’s important to keep an eye on them. In this Spicy Tomato and Prawn Pasta recipe, you add the prawns to the tomato sauce once it’s nice and thick. They only need 2 to 3 minutes to cook through. The moment they turn pink and opaque, they’re ready. Any longer, and you risk losing their delicate texture.
The prawns should be juicy and tender, providing a lovely contrast to the bite of the pasta and the texture of the tomatoes. Since they cook in the sauce, they’ll absorb its flavours, enhancing the overall depth of the dish.
Bringing It All Together: Pasta and Sauce
Now, let’s talk about the pasta. A common mistake with pasta dishes is treating the sauce and pasta as separate entities that only come together at the last minute. Not here. The key to this recipe’s success is in letting the sauce cling to every strand of pasta.
Once the pasta is cooked al dente, you drain it (remembering to reserve some of that precious cooking water) and add it straight to the pan of sauce. The starchy pasta water helps to emulsify the sauce, creating a silky, rich coating for the pasta. Tossing the pasta vigorously in the sauce helps to bind everything together and ensures every bite is coated with the spicy, garlicky tomato sauce.
This step is crucial because it’s not just about mixing pasta with sauce; it’s about allowing the pasta to absorb the flavours, creating a more cohesive dish. This also prevents the sauce from sitting at the bottom of the plate, making every forkful as flavourful as the last.
A Quick, Simple, and Flavour-Packed Weeknight Dinner
There’s a reason this Spicy Tomato and Prawn Pasta will become a weeknight favourite. It’s simple yet packed with flavour, quick to prepare, and requires minimal ingredients. The sweetness of the tomatoes, the brininess of the prawns, and the gentle heat from the pul biber combine to create a dish that feels far more indulgent than the time spent making it. Plus, using the tomato vines is a brilliant way to reduce waste while enhancing your sauce with an extra layer of flavour.
It’s the kind of dish that’s perfect for a balmy summer evening, served with a simple salad and maybe a glass of crisp white wine. Best of all, it’s a crowd-pleaser, so you can confidently serve it to friends or family without the stress of a complicated recipe.
Enjoy this vibrant pasta dish any night of the week, and don’t forget—those tomato vines have more to offer than you might think!
More Tomatoey Pasta Recipes
If you’re a fan of tomato-based pasta dishes, you’ll love these recipes. Each dish is packed with vibrant flavours and makes use of rich, tomatoey sauces to create unforgettable meals.
- Pulled Aubergine Ragu: A hearty, plant-based ragu made with pulled aubergine, simmered in a rich tomato sauce. This recipe is a great meat-free alternative that doesn’t compromise on flavour.
- Harissa Lamb Ragu: Spicy harissa meets tender lamb in this slow-cooked ragu, balanced by a rich tomato base. Perfect for a comforting meal with a touch of heat.
- Duck Ragu: This indulgent dish features succulent duck braised in a tomato and red wine sauce, creating a luxurious and flavourful ragu that pairs beautifully with pasta.
- Aubergine Tomato Pasta: A simple, satisfying dish combining roasted aubergine and a tangy tomato sauce. It’s a perfect weeknight meal that’s both comforting and nutritious.
- Harissa Pasta with Chickpeas: This spicy tomato-based pasta is infused with harissa and tossed with chickpeas for a protein-packed, vibrant, and hearty dish that’s full of bold flavours.
Spicy Tomato and Prawn Pasta
This fresh, summery pasta number is the perfect weeknight dinner. It takes less than 20 minutes to make and it’s packed with flavour.
Fun fact: tomato vines are incredibly flavourful, so don’t discard them! Add them to your sauce and fish them out just before serving.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
Ingredients
- 800g good-quality vine cherry tomatoes
- extra-virgin olive oil
- 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 1 tsp pul biber (aka aleppo pepper, see Notes for substitutions)
- 500g raw king prawns
- handful fresh parsley, finely chopped
- 400g dried pasta of choice
Instructions
- Pick the cherry tomatoes off the vines. Bash the vines with a rolling pin to release the fragrant oils.
- Heat a generous glug of extra-virgin olive oil in a large pot or sauté pan set over a medium heat. Add the garlic and pul biber and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and fragrant but not browned, around 1 minute.
- Add the cherry tomatoes, season generously with salt and pepper and toss to coat in the garlicky oil. Add the vines and cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes begin to burst, around 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, cook your pasta in plenty of salted boiling water until al dente then drain, reserving some of the cooking water.
- Back to the sauce. Using the back of a wooden spoon, crush half of the tomatoes to help create a sauce, then continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until a chunky, thickened sauce forms, around 10 minutes.
- Remove and discard the vines, then add the prawns and season with salt and pepper. Stir to combine and cook until the prawns are cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add the drained pasta to the sauce with a ladleful or two of the pasta cooking water. Cook, tossing vigorously, until a sauce forms and the pasta is nicely coated, then plate up and serve.
Notes
If you don’t have pul biber, you can substitute it for half the amount of chilli flakes plus a pinch of smoked paprika.
When do you add the Aleppo? Am I missing it in instructions?
My apologies! You add it alongside the garlic. I have now updated the method to reflect this. Thank you for bringing it to my attention!
Thank you for this recipe. It was surprisingly delicious! When i looked at the limited ingredients, i thought it would not work. But to my pleasant surprise, it was a “wow”!. I guess the moral of the story is never underestimate the power of simplicity. Thank you for such a simple but absolutely delicious recipe.
Yes, never simple is often best, when executed properly 🙂 I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thank you so much for you review.