Bucatini with prawn fra diavolo

SERVES 4 // PREP TIME 15 MINS // COOK 45 MINS

The long strands of bucatini are pierced, which helps them absorb the sauce. The classic pairing is with all’Amatriciana. We’ve added prawns to a tomato sauce spiked with the chilli.

400 gm dried bucatini

1 tbsp olive oil

300 gm peeled and cleaned uncooked prawns, halved lengthways

2 tsp tomato paste

2 tsp oregano

Dried chilli flakes, to serve

FRA DIAVOLO SAUCE

800 gm mixed cherry tomatoes, halved if large

4 garlic cloves, bruised

3 red birdseye chillies, coarsely chopped

200 ml extra-virgin olive oil 1 oregano sprig

1 For fra diavolo sauce, preheat oven to 200°C. Toss ingredients together in a roasting pan and roast until tender and starting to caramelise at the edges (40-45 minutes). Transfer a large spoonful of tomatoes to a plate and discard oregano sprig. Pulse remaining mixture in a food processor to your preferred consistency. Season to taste and keep warm.

2 Meanwhile, cook pasta in a large saucepan of boiling salted water until al dente

(7-9 minutes). Drain, reserving a little pasta water, then return pasta to pan with sauce and

1-2 tbsp reserved water to loosen. Add the reserved tomatoes, season to taste, toss to combine and keep warm.

3 Heat oil in a frying pan over high heat. Add prawns, tomato paste and oregano, and stir occasionally until prawns are just cooked (2-3 minutes). Add to pasta, adjust seasoning and serve scattered with a pinch of chilli flakes. Wine suggestion Full-bodied Sicilian nero d’Avola.

Bucatini White plate from Elph Store. Text page Bowl (bottom in stack) from Brett Stone, black bowl (middle in stack) from Peter’s of Kensington. Stanley Rogers cutlery from Peter’s of Kensington. All other props stylist’s own. Stockists p175.