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Head suckers alert! Roasted Prawns with Garlic, Parsley, Crushed Red Pepper Flakes and lemon.


Photo by Michael Graydon and Nikole Herriott

 Another great recipe from the lovely Gjelina cookbook.In common with most of their recipes, it isn’t ‘cheffy’ just a very neat combination of ingredients with some clever little twists.
This is not one for those of you that don’t like to get messy but it very definitely is one for those of you that like to suck a prawn head!
In the restaurant they would do this in a wood fired oven, the little trick here is to replicate that by putting a pan in the oven for an hour to get that immediate rush of heat. I’m not sure it requires quite that long but it definitely did the trick.

 Ingredients
12 fresh prawns, head and shell on
1⁄4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
flaky sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
8 cloves garlic confit, chopped, with some of the oil
2 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 lemon, quartered
Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 260°C. Put a large, dry cast-iron frying pan in the oven and heat until very hot, about 1 hour. 
2. With a paring knife, cut a slit down the back of the prawn shells and rinse the prawns well under cold water. Pat dry.
3. In a medium bowl, combine the prawns and olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Add the garlic confit, parsley, and crushed red pepper flakes and toss to combine. At the last minute, squeeze the juice from the lemon quarters into the bowl, and drop them into the mix.
4. Unload the prawns and their aromatic juices into the hot pan and quickly close the oven door or cover the grill. Roast the prawns, undisturbed, just until they are cooked through, 3 to 4 minutes.
5. Transfer the prawns and the roasted lemon wedges to a serving platter. Serve immediately.
Serve on their own or with Romesco sauce.


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