With Father’s Day (21st June) on the horizon, renowned chef Theo Randall of eponymous restaurant Theo Randall at the InterContinental Park Lane – is opening his personal cookbook and highlighting the importance of family and food in Italian cooking, offering a special recipe he shares with own son, Max.

Paccheri pasta with prawns, courgettes, tomatoes garlic and parsley:

“A dish my son, Max, loves and we often cook together, well I cook and he eats, is Paccheri pasta with prawns, courgettes, tomatoes garlic and parsley. We first had this dish in a restaurant in Puglia and a young Max loved it so much he kept asking me to make it. The combination of the chewy texture of the Paccheri pasta with the sweet prawns and courgettes is really delicious. There are many pasta dishes Max loves but this is his favourite and something I cook for him when he gets back from university. I am told by his friends that he cooks very well but I am still waiting for the invitation…”

INGREDIENTS:

Makes 4 starter portions

350g Paccheri pasta
250g of uncooked prawns, cut in half lengthways. Frozen are fine.
2 medium size courgettes cut into 1cm matchsticks
150g datterini tomatoes cut in half
1 clove of finely sliced garlic
1 tbsp of chopped flat leaf parsley
75 ml of dry white wine

METHOD:

1. In a late pan of boiling salted water, cook the Paccheri for 2 minutes less than the packet suggests. Paccheri is a thick pasta and tends to take around 10 mins for al dente. While the pasta is cooking you can make the sauce.
2. To make the sauce, slice the courgettes in 1 cm rings then place 3 rings on top of each other then slice 1 cm width. Continue this process until the two courgettes have been used.
3. In a large non-stick frying pan, add the olive oil, gently heat then add the sliced garlic and the cut courgettes. Cook for 3 minutes, then add the cut tomatoes, chopped parsley and finally the prawns, that have been cut in half lengthways. Season with salt and pepper.

4. Add the white wine and reduce the liquid.
5. At this point the pasta will be al dente, so with a slotted spoon or small sieve, remove the Paccheri pasta and add to the sauce.
6. Add a ladle of pasta water and cook for a further two minutes so the pasta and the sauce reduce and become syrupy.
7. Add another tbsp of olive oil and check seasoning. The pasta should have a lovely bite to it and the sauce should be coating the pasta.
8. Serve immediately in hot pasta bowls.