FOOD:The ideal recipe for a 'bad mummy' day when the cupboard is bare and the family is hungry,L writes Domini Kemp
I RECENTLY SNATCHED some raw prawns on some sort of dodgy supermarket offer and shoved them in the freezer for a "bad mummy" day. That's a day when there is nothing left in the house to eat, except a bit of old bread in the freezer, a few cloves of garlic and a tin of beans.
"Not to worry," I yelled, "dinner will be ready in a jiffy!" The family sat around the table, confirming they weren't eating porridge at night or any "beans and prawns" combo. For a moment, I thought I may have been on to a thrifty version of "surf 'n' turf", but luckily common sense prevailed.
This dish ended up as gourmet "prawns on toast", which was truly delicious and repaired my damaged reputation somewhat. Feel free to add loads of chopped flat-leaf parsley. If you serve with plenty of bread and a salad, you may just get away with allowing 100g prawns per person.
One of my other favourite dinners is a veggie one for some spaghetti. It's an onion, thyme and garlic sauce and although the amount of garlic in it is a bit OTT, it's well worth stinking like a garlic-fiend if you're feeling a little tired or in need of an immune boost. I've given up apologising for permanently stinking of garlic and reckon strangers write me off as a garlic-guzzling French person.
When cooking pasta, I usually drain and rinse it in plenty of water, often from a boiled kettle. This helps get rid of the starch which can cause it to clump together. I am sure I am gravely insulting Italian mamas by doing this, but once it's rinsed, I put it back in the saucepan, add a good splash of olive oil and season the pasta well. It's then perfectly warm, seasoned and ready for whatever sauce I have in mind.
With regards to portion sizes for pasta, and spaghetti in particular, I always get it wrong. Not that I mind leftovers, as it can be a good school lunch the next day if mixed with some pesto. I normally allow 100-150g of pasta per person, depending on how savage you feel. Feeds two.
Rich onion, thyme and garlic sauce for spaghetti
4 or 5 tablespoons olive oil
2 large onions, peeled and very thinly sliced
Few sprigs of thyme
Head of garlic, peeled and crushed
1-2 glasses white wine
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
About ½ pack of spaghetti (which are normally 500g)
Grated Parmesan
Heat up the olive oil in a large frying pan, and very gently saute the onions until soft and just starting to colour. If you do this slow enough, it will take about 15 minutes. Chuck in the thyme, garlic, white wine and season well. Turn up the heat and cook off the wine. When most of the liquid has evaporated, remove from the heat and keep warm while you cook the pasta. When the pasta is ready, drain and rinse with a kettle full of boiling water. Return to the big saucepan, splash with some extra olive oil, season well and serve with some of the onion sauce and top with plenty of black pepper and Parmesan.
Ridiculously tasty prawns
8 cloves garlic
50ml olive oil
Few sprigs of thyme (if you have it)
Salt and pepper
Knob of butter
400g raw prawns (or whatever you can get)
Splash of white wine
Don't peel the garlic cloves. Heat the olive oil in a small sauce pan and cook the whole cloves, very gently, for about 3 or 4 minutes. Cover with a lid to stop any oil splattering. Add the thyme and season lightly. If the oil gets too hot, the garlic will burn and become bitter. If that happens, start again with new cloves of garlic.
Stick a knife into one of the cloves and if it's soft, remove all of them from the oil and drain on a paper towel. Leave them until they are cool enough to manhandle safely.
Heat up the knob of butter and an extra splash of olive oil (leftover from the confit garlic) in a large saucepan. Fry the prawns on a high heat until they start to get good colour and caramelize in parts.
Squeeze the garlic from its skins and add to the prawns along with the wine and plenty of black pepper. Squish the garlic with a wooden spoon and mix well, sauteeing the prawns until cooked through (which should only take a couple of minutes). Serve with loads of bread and a green salad.
dkemp@irish-times.ie