Anne Morgan Delia Smith’s garlic prawns recipe is her Roasted Butterflied Tiger Prawns in Garlic Butter, a starter for 4. You split 20 tiger prawns open, spread them with butter, garlic, parsley and lemon, then roast them for just 6 to 7 minutes. The whole recipe takes about 35 minutes, and most of it goes on opening up the prawns.
It was her first course for garlic lovers in How to Cook Book Two. She serves it with lots of crusty baguette to mop up the buttery juices.
Her website prints the same recipe for 4, among her ideas for entertaining.
The tails stay on, so each prawn opens out like a pink butterfly in a pool of garlic butter.
Delia Smith’s Garlic Prawns
Course: StarterCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Easy4
servings25
minutes10
minutes215
kcalButterflied tiger prawns spread with garlic, parsley and lemon butter, then roasted on the top shelf of a very hot oven.
Ingredients
- For the prawns:
20 raw, shell-on large tiger prawns (about 700g/1lb 8oz), thoroughly defrosted if frozen
a little butter, for the dishes
- For the garlic butter:
75g (3oz) butter, softened
4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1 heaped tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
grated zest and juice of ½ lemon
salt and freshly milled black pepper
- To serve:
1 dessertspoon chopped parsley
1 lemon, cut into quarters
crusty baguette
Directions
- Dishes: Butter 4 individual gratin dishes with a 13cm base.
- Butterfly: Peel the prawns but keep the tails on. Slit each one open along the back and take out the dark thread.
- Dry: Rinse the prawns, pat them dry with kitchen paper and divide them between the dishes.
- Garlic butter: Mash the butter with the garlic, parsley, lemon zest and juice, salt and pepper, using a large fork in a small bowl. Spread it evenly over the prawns.
- Roast: Heat the oven to 230°C, fan 210°C, gas mark 8. Put the dishes on the highest shelf and roast the prawns for 6 to 7 minutes.
- Serve: Sprinkle with the parsley and serve straight away with the lemon quarters and crusty baguette.
Notes
- Keep the heads and shells for a stock. Delia makes the stock for her tiger prawn jambalaya from the shells.
FAQs
How do I butterfly prawns?
Turn each peeled prawn on its back first. Cut down the centre with the point of a sharp knife, but stop before you go through. Then open it with your thumb like a book.
The brownish-black thread then sits in full view, and the knife point scrapes it away easily. Delia pulls the heads and legs off with her fingers before she peels the prawns, and she keeps the tails on because they look prettier.
Can I use frozen prawns?
Yes, but Delia says they must be thoroughly defrosted first. In her prawn curry she tips frozen prawns into a colander and leaves them about an hour to thaw.
Twenty large prawns in their shells weigh about 700g. So buy that weight if the pack doesn’t tell you the number.
Gratin dishes or a baking tray?
Either works. Delia uses 4 small gratin dishes, or one buttered baking tray of 28 x 40cm.
On the tray, the prawns need only 5 minutes, not 6 to 7. The small dishes keep each portion in its own garlic butter, so you can serve them straight from the oven, my own view.
How far ahead can I make garlic prawns?
Well in advance, Delia says. Once the garlic butter is on, cover the dishes with clingfilm and keep them in the fridge until you need them.
Take the clingfilm off before they go into the hot oven. For a dinner party, I’d get them ready the same morning, my own call.
How do I make Spanish garlic prawns?
Make her Gambas Pil Pil from How to Cheat at Cooking, prawns in sizzling garlic and chilli oil for 2 as tapas. You need 12 frozen peeled raw tiger or king prawns and 2 fat garlic cloves, thinly sliced. Add 2 piri piri chillies from a jar, chopped small, 4 tablespoons olive oil and lots of crusty bread.
Heat a small heatproof dish, about 12cm across, under the grill, 10cm from the heat. Fry the prawns in 1 tablespoon of the oil in a small frying pan for 2 minutes, until pink and opaque. Then heat the other 3 tablespoons in a small saucepan.
Add the prawns, their oil, the garlic and the chillies, and sizzle for 1 minute, until the garlic is golden but not brown. Tip it all into the hot dish with oven gloves and take it to the table still sizzling. For a starter or a light lunch, she doubles everything and uses 2 bowls.
