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Marinated monster prawns with pil-pil sauce
Serves 2 Starters and mains
For the monster prawns
- 8 giant black tiger prawns, or the largest prawns you can find
- 2tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 garlic clove, crushed or grated
- 1tbsp chopped dill
- 1tsp dried chilli flakes
For the pil-pil sauce
- 100ml olive oil
- 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 1⁄2tsp salt
- 1tsp cumin seeds, toasted
- 1tsp ground coriander
- pinch cayenne
- 3tbsp confit chilli salsa (see recipe, below)
- 8-10 cherry tomatoes, quartered and deseeded
To serve
- 2tbsp lemon juice
- 2 basil leaves, finely sliced
- 2 slices sourdough, lightly grilled on both sides (optional)
For the confit chilli salsa and chilli oil
- 2 red chillies, stems trimmed and discarded
- 4 sprigs thyme
- 5 large garlic cloves
- 2 bay leaves
- olive oil, to cover
Method
Start by shelling the prawns, leaving the heads and tails on for aesthetic appeal. Use a small knife to create a slit and cut out the vein that runs down the back.
Season the prawns, toss them in olive oil, garlic, dill and chilli flakes and put in the refrigerator to marinate for 2-4 hours.
To make the pil-pil sauce, heat the olive oil in a heavy-based (preferably cast-iron) frying pan and gently sauté the garlic for 2-3 minutes, until softened and translucent but not coloured.
Remove the garlic from the oil with a slotted spoon (be sure to take out all of it and don’t leave any stragglers behind) and transfer to a mortar and pestle, leaving the cooking oil in the pan. Add the salt, cumin seeds, coriander and cayenne to the garlic and work the mix until it forms a paste.
Return the pan and oil to the hob and warm over a medium heat. Add the confit chilli salsa, tomatoes and garlic mix and cook for few minutes to heat through. Turn the heat down as low as it can go and allow the sauce to bubble away and intensify in flavour while you finish the prawns.
Set your barbecue up for single-zone, direct grilling, ensuring that you are cooking on hot embers. Set the prawns on the grill rack directly over the burning coals, turning once or twice to colour both sides well, until the prawns are cooked all the way through, around 2-3 minutes on each side. Alternatively, heat a cast-iron pan over a high heat until smoking hot and grill the prawns until done.
While the prawns are grilling, have the pan with the pil-pil sauce set on the outer edges of the barbecue or grill to warm through.
Once cooked, transfer the
prawns to the pan of pil-pil sauce
and finish with the lemon juice.
Garnish with the basil leaves and
serve immediately with the bread.
For the confit chilli salsa and chilli oil
Preheat the oven to 150C/ 300F/Gas 2. Place the chillies in a deep casserole dish, along with the herbs, garlic and bay leaves and add oil to cover. Tightly cover with foil and roast for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the chillies have softened but not dried out. Remove and allow to cool.
Once cool, remove the chillies from the pan (reserving the oil) and chop them finely. Spoon them into a Kilner jar, season and cover with oil. Refrigerate for up to 1 week.
Store the excess chilli oil in the
fridge, and drizzle it over dishes to
add heat whenever required.
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