Trofie with prawns, chilli and broccoli

Serves 4

(Photograph by JasonLowe)

Leafy Italian broccoli, or broccoletti, lends itself to pasta dishes as the delicate stalks and leaves just wilt into the dish. I've also used some baby plum tomatoes in this dish that I semi-dried and preserved in olive oil and herbs last summer, but you could just as easily use sun-blushed tomatoes (available from supermarket deli counters or Merchant Gourmet) simply cut up. I've also based the sauce on an infused oil which I made from the prawn shells. If you buy head- and shell-on prawns for this dish you can make about half a litre or so of well-flavoured oil that you can keep in the fridge for drizzling on fish or in pasta dishes like this.

Try to buy fresh prawns if possible. Waitrose sell great fresh prawns from the Red Sea which have a far superior flavour to most frozen prawns.

4 servings of trofie
24 or so medium-sized raw prawns, shelled (reserve the shells)
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
1/2 tsp dried chilli flakes
6 or so tbsp of shellfish oil (see below) or olive oil
8 heads of broccoletti or sprouting broccoli, trimmed and cooked
8 pieces of quartered sun-blushed tomatoes
60g butter
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Cook the trofie in boiling salted water according to the manufacturer's cooking instructions. Meanwhile heat the shellfish oil in a pan, season and fry the prawns with the garlic and chilli flakes for a couple of minutes until the prawns are just cooked, add the broccoli and tomatoes and butter and toss together with the pasta. Re-season and add a little water or more oil if necessary.

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