Linguine with Prawns and Eggplant

[ripdog]

I've cooked this recipe twice and something's missing. On try 2 I added cilantro, which helped, but the sauce is still off a bit. My wife raves about it, I think it could be better. Here it is:

1+ lbs prawns (16-20 count)
1 15 oz. can tomato sauce (recipe calls for marinara)
8 sprigs cilantro
1/2 lb. liguine
heavy cream (I add to desired color)
4 cloves pressed garlic
1/2 purple eggplant, cut into 1/2" cubes
2 or 3 tblsp. EV olive oil

Cook pasta al dente, drain and set aside. Add EVOO, eggplant, and garlic to pan and cook until EVOO is soaked up. Add cilantro and cook for 30 seconds or so. Move contents of pan to side and add prawns. Cook prawns for ~20 seconds per side, add tomato sauce, then stir in cream until you get a color that looks good to you (I use 1/2 pint or so) and simmer for ~5 minutes. Add cooked pasta and toss until pasta is coated. Serve with fresh bread and salad.

I'm considering adding some white wine next time, but I don't want to overpower the prawns. The dish is very good and the leftovers rock, but something is defintitely missing. What is it?

[guids]

Homeade gravy.

[MrMon]

What's missing? A defibrillator.

I'm not an expert, but it seems to me you're combining too many areas of Italy. You can have white wine and butter, or butter, garlic, and olive oil, or tomato and spices, or a cream suace, even slightly tinged with marinara, but I think you have every possible Italian sauce ingredient in there. You probably need to take out something, not add in something.

Get out an Italian cook book and go over the basic sauces. The answer should become obvious. For instance, if you go with a red sauce, you'll need something like basil, oregano, or rosemary.

And salt. You gotta have salt. Completely absent, food tastes dead, add just a touch.

[Borodog]

[ QUOTE ]
And salt. You gotta have salt. Completely absent, food tastes dead, add just a touch.

[/ QUOTE ]

A little bit of salt always seems to turn all the other flavors "on" doesn't it?

[katyseagull]

I'm not big on prawns but if it were me I would definitely add some wine (like a Riesling). Also I agree about the salt.

[Phil153]

I've always considered the four essentials of cooking to be

<ul type="square">[*]Fat: For texture and to both smoothen and highlight subtle tastes
[*]Sugar: Even the tiniest hint can transform a dish. Most dishes need a tiny bit to be great, especially tomato based dishes.
[*]Salt: To enhance flavor and satisfy the body's craving for it.
[*]Stock: To add a body to a dish. Very important in making a dish taste complete.[/list]I know that sounds horribly unrefined but when a dish is not quite right or missing something, it's usually lacking in one of those areas.

This recipe definitely needs some sugar to balance the tomatoes (white/raw sugar is good but try a small amount of brown sugar if you're feeling adventurous), and some stock to give it body. How much, I couldn't say. Have fun experimenting. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]