Name: Maccheroni alla Chitarra: Courgettes and Prawns (Maccheroni alla Chitarra con Gamberi e Zucchine)
Yield: Serves 4 as a starter or 2 as a main
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 1 clove garlic, cut into matchsticks; 300–400 g shell-on raw prawns, shelled (you should end up with 150–200 g shelled meat); 10 basil leaves, torn or shredded; 50 g butter; 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil; 2–3 courgettes (300 g)

Preparation info

Serves
4
as a starter

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

The Geometry of Pasta

By Caz Hildebrand and Jacob Kenedy

Published 2010

About

This dish is a cinch to make — and delicious, provided the prawns are of the highest possible quality. I use Sicilian red prawns — a rare delicacy, and scrumptious. Substitutes could be Poole prawns (the lovely, transparent shrimp landed in the south of England in late autumn and winter), rock shrimp, or shelled langoustines or lobster.

Ingredients

200 g dried, or 260 g fresh maccheroni alla chitarra
2–3 courgettes (

Method

Top and tail the courgettes, then cut across into half, to make them of manageable length. Slice each section lengthways in thin, 1–2mm slices, then stack the slices and cut into julienne strips the same width as the pasta will be when cooked. You could lightly season these with salt a few minutes before cooking, but it isn’t really necessary. Put the pasta on.

A few minutes before the