As fides (angel hair) is a delicate type of pasta, we love pairing it with light, structured sauces. They are wonderful with broths, consommés, soups, light tomato and dairy sauces. In Greece, it’s the type of pasta that is usually added in avgolemono soup –a lemon chicken soup, thickened with eggs. However we find this type of pasta versatile and fun and we would like to show you more ways of using it. The following recipe is a great light and healthy, spring dinner. Alternatively, omit the noodles and serve as a prawn dressing for crisp salad leaves. This recipe is special as we use petimezi, which adds depth and a hint of spice. Salad with fides (angel hair), spinach and prawns
Ingredients
500g fides
250g prawns fresh or frozen
2 oranges thinly cut in fillets but also juiced
1/2 cup of grape molasses
1 tablespoon of fresh ginger or 1 teaspoon of powdered
60ml olive oil
250g fresh or frozen spinach
2 teaspoons of fish sauce
Sea salt, freshly ground pepper
Optional: more olive oil for the pan, 1-2 garlic cloves crushed, chilli flakes, sesame seeds
Method
Steam the spinach for 3-4 minutes, remove it from the pot and set aside the water you used. Alternatively, sauté spinach in a pan, with evoo until softened; put in some crushed garlic and some chilli flakes to enhance the flavours.
Prepare the prawns by removing tails, heads, shells and intestines. Boil them for 2 minutes, as soon as they show any sign of changing colour. In a bowl, mix together petimezi, orange juice, evoo and add the shrimps to the marinade. Boil fides in the water you left previously, according to the package. Drain well and run the pasta under cold water, to stop cooking.
Mix fides with spinach, prawns and the orange fillets. Add ginger and fish sauce in the marinade. Shake up the dressing ingredients in a jar and tip over the salad. Toss gently and check the seasonings; remember that fish sauce is quite salty. Garnish with sesame seeds and dinner is served.
Enjoy!
