Poached Prawns with Fettuccine and French String Beans
This delicious and easy dish features succulent prawns poached in butter and served over fettuccine and French string beans.
This delicious and easy dish features succulent prawns poached in butter and served over fettuccine and French string beans.
- Carbohydrate 31.68072264175 g
- Cholesterol 213.2451006 mg
- Fat 3.24978700025 g
- Fiber 0 g
- Protein 29.36475258675 g
- Saturated Fat 0.5556257434 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (169g)
- Sodium 200.809320129167 mg
- Sugar 31.68072264175 g
- Trans Fat 0.969350844 g
- Calories 281 calories
Step-by-step
- Cook pasta according the packaging directions. Drain and add the string beans and 1 tablespoon butter and stir well.
- In a skillet add water and bring to boil point and start adding the butter, tablespoon at the time to emulsify. Once all the butter is melted add the prawns and poach – just below simmer- until the prawns are cooked and turn a nice pink color. Season with salt and pepper.
- Remove the prawn leaving the juice in the skillet. Add the pasta with the French string beans to the skillet and stir to coat the fettuccine well.
- Place pasta in the middle of the plate and place the prawns over it with any juices.
Unsalted butter performs the heavy lifting in this preparation by acting simultaneously as a cooking medium and a sauce base through careful thermal management. Water is brought to a boil in a skillet before cold butter is whisked in gradually, harnessing milk solids and water droplets to form a stable emulsion rather than allowing the fat to simply separate. This technique prevents the delicate proteins in the dairy from burning while maintaining a gentle poaching environment.
Crustaceans demand precise thermal control because their muscle fibers tighten rapidly when exposed to excessive heat. Prawns cook safely just below a simmer at approximately 180 degrees Fahrenheit, a threshold where myosin proteins coagulate just enough to turn the flesh opaque and pink without squeezing out all the internal moisture. Pulling them out before overcooking preserves their natural sweetness and prevents a rubbery texture.
Combining the pasta directly into the leftover skillet juices allows the starch molecules coating the fettuccine to bond with the remaining butterfat and pan liquids. This starchy binding action creates a cohesive coating that clings to every strand instead of pooling at the bottom of the plate. Folding in the green beans at this stage warms them evenly without requiring a secondary heating vessel.
Combining seafood with butter and pasta reflects coastal European traditions where fresh catches are routinely married with rich dairy fats and local grains. While historically butter production centered in cooler northern European pastures, pairing it with delicate aquatic proteins creates a balanced interplay between sweet oceanic flesh and rich lipids. Maintaining a medium skillet heat ensures the emulsion remains glossy until serving.
