Plate Up. Prawn Laksa

Each time the printer in my office restarts itself it likes to print a colour test page and the clever people at Epson always choose bright artistic photos. Of late, the printer has been shooting out delectable images of delicious dinners and the funny boys in graphic design like to pin these up on the wall; taunting us about how lacklustre our lunches are. The one that has really caught my eye of late was a beautiful image of a prawn laksa, I'd been staring at it for three weeks when I decided it was about time I satisfied my craving and made the dish for dinner.

What you'll need
500g butternut pumpkin
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 x 230g jar laksa paste
500ml chicken stock
500ml coconut milk
500g cooked, peeled prawns
100g green beans, top and tailed and halved
2 teaspoons soy sauce
200g thin rice noodles
1/2 cup bean sprouts
2 spring onions, sliced
1 red chilli, sliced
Sea salt

What to do
Chop your pumpkin up into small 1cm cubes. Bring to the boil in a saucepan and simmer until tender (I thought pumpkin would be an interesting addition to a laksa and it really does complement the creaminess of the coconut milk).

Meanwhile, heat your olive oil in a large saucepan and add the laksa paste. Cook over medium heat for two minutes until fragrant. Add the stock, coconut milk and beans and stir to combine. Simmer for 5 minutes.

In a separate bowl, prepare your rice noodles by pouring bowling water over them and allowing them to sit. You pumpkin should now be be cooked. Drain it and add to the laksa. Add the soy sauce along with the bean sprouts. Add the spring onions and chilli, reserving a little of each for a garnish.

Drain your noodles and add these to the laksa along with your prawns to heat them through. Garnish with the spring onions and chilli. Finish with a good crack of sea salt; it really brings all the flavours together.

Photos by Krissie.