Prawns with Romesco sauce

Method12 steps · about 40 min

1. 1

   Step 1: Wash the pepper, chilli and tomato (1 large). Halve the pepper lengthways and remove its stalk and seeds. Line a grill pan with foil and arrange both pepper halves skin-side up with the three whole unpeeled garlic cloves, whole chilli and whole tomato.

   Uses 1 red pepper, preferably long thin-skinned romano · 3 large whole unpeeled garlic cloves · 1 large fresh red chilli · 1 large ripe tomato

2. 2

   Step 2: Grill the tray for two minutes, turn the tomato, then grill for another two minutes. Lift out only the tomato with a large spoon; when safe to handle, peel and quarter it and discard its seeds. Keep the pepper, chilli and garlic on the tray for further grilling.

   Uses The complete prepared vegetable tray

3. 3

   Step 3: Roughly chop the peeled, deseeded grilled tomato and hold it in a bowl for the sauce. Leave the pepper, chilli and garlic on the grill tray.

   Uses Only the peeled deseeded tomato from the removed portion

4. 4

   Step 4: Continue grilling the pepper, chilli and garlic for four to five minutes until the pepper and chilli skins blacken and the garlic begins to soften and its skin splits. Set these cooked vegetables aside until cool enough to handle.

   Uses Only the pepper, chilli and garlic left on the tray

5. 5

   Step 5: Peel the grilled pepper and chilli. Halve the chilli and scrape out its seeds; roughly chop the pepper and chilli. Squeeze or peel the softened garlic out of its papery skin and keep all three prepared vegetables together.

   Uses All the cooled grilled pepper, chilli and garlic

6. 6

   Step 6: Spread all ten hazelnuts and ten blanched almonds on the foil and grill, watching closely, until toasted. Wash the parsley (3 sprigs) and discard coarse stems. Finely chop the toasted nuts and prepared parsley together in a food processor.

   Uses 10 shelled hazelnuts · 10 blanched almonds · 3 sprigs parsley

7. 7

   Step 7: Tip the chopped toasted nuts and parsley into a small bowl and hold them separately for the final sauce finish.

   Uses All the prepared nut-parsley mixture

8. 8

   Step 8: Heat only three tablespoons of the measured olive oil (3 tbsp) in a frying pan. Add all the peeled grilled pepper, chilli and garlic and fry for three minutes. Tear the small bread (1 small slice) slice into pieces, add all of it to the same pan and turn it in the used oil until lightly browned. Keep the other five tablespoons oil for blending.

   Fry prepared vegetables before adding the bread · 3 minUses All the prepared grilled vegetables · 3 tbsp of the measured oil for frying · 1 small slice day-old bread

9. 9

   Step 9: Pulse all the pan contents and held chopped tomato in the food processor with the red wine vinegar (2 tbsp), only the remaining five tablespoons olive oil and salt to taste, until roughly chopped. Tip the resulting sauce into a bowl; keep the chopped nut-parsley mixture separate.

   Uses All contents of the frying pan · All the held chopped grilled tomato · 2 tbsp red wine vinegar · Remaining 5 tbsp olive oil for blending · Salt for romesco sauce, to taste

10. 10

    Step 10: Let the sauce cool, then refrigerate it promptly in a covered container if making ahead. Keep the separate nut-parsley mixture covered and cool until serving. The covered romesco base keeps in the refrigerator for up to three days.

    Uses All the prepared romesco base

11. 11

    Step 11: On the serving day, stir all the toasted nut-parsley mixture into the cooled romesco base. Ensure the already-cooked peeled prawns are fully thawed if frozen and keep them chilled until plating. Serve the finished sauce in a small bowl beside all the cooked prawns.

    Uses All the cooled romesco base · All the prepared nut-parsley mixture · 400 g large already-cooked peeled tiger prawns, defrosted in the fridge if frozen

12. 12

    Step 12: Supply cocktail sticks for spearing the cooked prawns and dipping them in the finished romesco. Serve the batch as ten to twelve tapas portions with other dishes.

    Uses The finished prawn-and-sauce platter