Prawn and broccoli pasta with red pepper sauce

Prawn and broccoli pasta is a quick and easy meal made with juicy prawns and freshly steamed broccoli in a deliciously creamy red pepper sauce. Serve it mixed with a bowl of freshly cooked linguine.

Sometimes, a recipe just works! Which is why I'm claiming bragging rights on this recipe for prawns and broccoli pasta in creamy red pepper sauce.

• It's delicious! The combination of prawns and broccoli smothered in a creamy red pepper sauce has to be experienced to be believed.
• This is the perfect dish to make when you're pressed for time. Start to finish, this easy pasta dish takes only half an hour to throw together.
• It only takes a handful of ingredients. Apart from the prawns, you probably already have everything you need in your pantry.
• This is a restaurant quality meal! Can't say more than that!

This recipe for creamy prawn and broccoli pasta came about when hubby proudly presented me with not one but three heads of broccoli that he'd grown on the allotment. I've got a few recipes for broccoli on the website (satay chicken and broccoli and beef and broccoli stir fry are both delicious in their own right) but I wanted to make something different.

After scratching my head about what to do with all the broccoli, I remembered my recipe for chicken livers in creamy red pepper sauce and thought the flavours of the sauce from that recipe would go nicely with the broccoli. And I seem to have hit on a winner.

The main comment was 'Oh that was so good - can we have it again tomorrow?' Unfortunately, we'd eaten most of the prawns, but luckily there was still plenty of everything else left, so I simply fried up another packet of prawns, added them to the leftovers and served it up again. And it was just as delicious the second time around!

The sauce is the star of the show! It's made by blitzing red peppers and onions in a food processor and then frying them in butter until softened. Once that's been done it's a matter of adding a cup of passata (you can use store-bought or make your own using this easy homemade passata recipe) and thickening with a little cream.

The prawns are fried in butter until they turn pink, and the broccoli is steamed separately until it has softened to your liking. Then they are combined with the sauce and pasta before serving. So easy!

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• Instructions
• Tips for a perfect outcome
• Serving suggestions
• Variations
• Equipment
• Storage
• Save for later
• Related recipes
• 📋The recipe

Ingredients

You only need 8 everyday ingredients to make this delicious prawn and broccoli pasta dish.

The recipe as written will feed 4 people, but you can easily adjust the ingredients to make a larger or smaller batch.

• Pasta - the choice of pasta is up to you. I used linguine for this recipe but you could use spaghetti instead. Smaller pasta shapes such as conchiglie or fusilli would also work well. If you intend to serve this dish to young children they will probably find the smaller shells easier to manage.
• Prawns (or shrimp) - I like to use frozen raw prawns that have been shelled and deveined. They only take a few minutes to cook in butter. If you prefer using ready-cooked prawns that's fine. Just skip the step of frying them. You can also use fresh prawns, but you would have to shell and devein them yourself. If you are using frozen prawns they should be defrosted and drained.
• Passata - this is made from fresh tomatoes which have been cooked until quite thick and then sieved to remove the skin and pips. You can use shop-bought passata, or make your own using this homemade passata recipe. I tend to make my own tomato passata whenever I have a glut of tomatoes and store it in cup-sized portions (240ml) in the freezer.
• Red pepper or capsicum - with the seeds and membranes removed, and cut into large pieces.
• Onion - I prefer using white onions in this dish, but you could use a red onion instead. The onion should be peeled and cut into large chunks. Don't worry too much about the size, the pepper and onion will be chopped into fine pieces in a food processor.
• Broccoli - the broccoli should be cut into even-sized florets and lightly steamed. You can cut the stems into batons and use those too.
• Butter - this is used for frying the prawns. You can use either salted or unsalted butter, but if you use salted butter take this into account when seasoning the dish.
• Double cream - this is stirred into the sauce as the final step. You may know it as heavy or whipping cream. You can use single cream but the sauce will not thicken as much.
• You will also need salt and black pepper for seasoning - use this to your own taste.
• Garlic - is optional and not pictured. If you want to use garlic, add one or two cloves to the food processor along with the red pepper and onion.

**You can get the exact measurements for the ingredients on the printable recipe card at the end of this post**

Instructions

Start by cooking the pasta. Follow the instructions on the packet and once cooked, drain and keep warm while you get on with the rest of the recipe.

Tips for a perfect outcome

Here are my top tips to ensure your prawn and broccoli turns out perfectly every time.

• Once the prawns have defrosted, pat them dry with a paper towel to remove any excess moisture. This will ensure the sauce maintains the correct consistency when the prawns are added.
• If you don't have a food processor you can chop the red pepper and onions very finely with a sharp knife. Aim to cut them to about the size of a grain of rice.
• Fry the prawns until they have just turned pink. Do not over-cook them or they will turn rubbery. They will cook for another few minutes when the sauce is being warned before serving.
• When softening the red pepper and onions cover the pan with a lid and keep the heat as low as possible so that they do not burn or dry out. If they look as though they are drying out, add a splash of water. The aim is to steam them until they have softened in their own juices. This is the most important step of the entire process - the more these vegetables soften, the tastier the end result will be.
• Once the passata has been added to the sauce, leave it to simmer for 4 to 5 minutes to give the flavour from the peppers time to combine with the tomatoes.
• Steam the broccoli until it is fork-tender. Don't allow it to over-cook or it will become mushy once added to the sauce.
• Taste and adjust the seasoning once the cream has been added, but before adding the pasta, prawns and broccoli.

Serving suggestions

I like to serve prawn and broccoli salad with a fresh green salad and depending on how hungry we are, a slice of crispy toasted garlic bread.

This dish is also very tasty when made without pasta and simply spooned over a pile of fluffy white basmati rice.

Serve as an appetiser by omitting both the pasta and the broccoli, and serve the prawns in a small bowl with the sauce. Add one or two slices of crusty bread to mop up the sauce.

Variations

Here are a few ways in which you could modify the dish.

• Spicy - add dried chilli flakes when frying the red peppers and onions to add a kick of heat.
• Extra veg - you can add a variety of steamed vegetables to this dish. Why not steam some mange tout or asparagus spears with the broccoli, or even stir in half a cup of (defrosted) frozen peas just before serving?
• Swap the prawns for fish - no prawns? No problem! You can make this dish with pieces of cod, haddock or even salmon. In fact you could use any firm white fish that keeps its shape when fried. Just cut the fish into bite-sized pieces and saute it in butter until it is just cooked, then follow the rest of the recipe.
• Add a garnish - a sprinkling of freshly grated parmesan cheese makes a delicious garnish.

Equipment

I used a saute pan which was large enough to combine all the ingredients (including the pasta). The pan should have a lid to keep the moisture in while sauteing the red peppers and onions.

You will also need a saucepan for cooking the pasta and a steamer for steaming the broccoli. I have a nifty little steamer basket that fits nicely into a saucepan so I don't have to get my big steamer out!

A food processor will make short work of chopping up the red peppers and onions, but if you don't have one a sharp knife and a chopping board will do the job just as well. It will just take a while longer.

Storage

Leftovers can be stored in a covered container and reheated in a saucepan on the stove. Because this dish contains shellfish, I wouldn't store it for longer than one day.

I haven't tried to freeze the complete dish, mainly because I make it with prawns that have been frozen and defrosted.

However, the tomato, onion and red pepper sauce can be frozen. I would be inclined to freeze it before adding the cream. When you want to use the sauce, defrost it and heat it gently in a saucepan and then stir in the cream.

Save for later

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📋The recipe

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