Recipe: Hot Prawn Cocktail

Sorted

We're bringing the tired prawn cocktail bang up to date today, serving it up hot, in a brand new way that's perfect for sharing. We also add a few Sorted twists by drying out the tomatoes and grilling the lettuce...your guests will LOVE this!

Ingredients

1 handful cherry tomatoes
2 glugs olive oil
5 cloves garlic, peeled
1 handful fresh thyme
2 lemons
2 handfuls raw shelled prawns
2 splashes Tabasco sauce
1 ciabatta loaf, cut into slices
1 handful fresh parsley
1 knob butter
1 handful crevettes
1/2 tsp ground cayenne
3 baby gem lettuce
1/2 cucumber
100 g mayonnaise
100 g tomato ketchup
1 shot cognac

Step 1

Preheat The Oven

Preheat the oven to 110ºC.

Step 2

Dry The Tomatoes

Halve the tomatoes and stick them on a baking tray. Drizzle over a little olive oil and chuck on a few cloves of garlic, thyme sprigs and a little seasoning before putting into the oven for 3 hours.

Step 3

Turn Up The Oven

Preheat the oven to 190ºC.

Step 4

Fry The Lemons

Slice one of the lemons into thin pieces. Heat a little oil in a pan, adding the lemon slices to fry until just start to colour.

Step 5

Prep The Prawns

Cut a square of foil large enough to wrap into a parcel. Place the raw, shelled prawns into the foil and arrange a couple of cloves of garlic, the caramelised lemon slices and a few sprigs of thyme on top.

Step 6

Wrap & Bake The Prawns

Drizzle a glug of olive oil, a few shakes of Tabasco sauce and salt and pepper over the prawns and seal the foil around it. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes on a tray with the slices of ciabatta loaf around it to crisp up.

Step 7

Cook The Shell-On Prawns

Peel and finely chop another garlic clove and the parsley. Chuck the butter into a hot frying pan with a glug of oil. Add the shell on prawns with the chopped garlic and parsley to fry. Squeeze over the juice of the remaining lemon, add the cayenne and let it bubble away for another minutes or so.

Step 8

Grill The Lettuce

Cut the lettuce in half lengthways, keeping the root intact, then wash to make sure there is no dirt or grit. Heat a cast iron griddle pan (or a dry frying pan) and press the inside half of the lettuce down onto the pan. Grill the lettuce for a couple of minutes until it begins to blacken. Take it out of the pan and shred.

Step 9

Make The Dressing

Combine the mayonnaise and ketchup in a bowl, adding a few drops of Tabasco, a shot of cognac and season with salt and pepper. Thinly slice the cucumber ready to serve.

Step 10

Serve Up As A Platter!

Serve everything on a large platter to make one huge salad of warm salmon, prawns and lettuce, with the oven dried tomatoes, cucumber slices and croutons. Serves 4