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Chargrilled prawns with salmorejo and pancetta

Chargrilled prawns with salmorejo and pancetta

This is really two classic dishes put together. One is the charcoal-grilled prawns marinated in parsley, lemon and garlic. The other is salmorejo, a thick bread and tomato soup from Cordoba, which is used here as a sauce. Traditionally, salmorejo is made in summer when tomatoes are sweetest.

“Loved the prawn tapa with chopped egg and pancetta at Melbourne’s Añada. Would Jesse Gerner be willing to share the recipe?”
John Conway, Albert Park, Vic

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Chargrilled prawns with salmorejo and pancetta

Serves 4
Cooking Time Prep time 15 mins, cook 20 mins (plus resting)
1   egg, at room temperature
12   green king prawns, peeled, head and tails intact, cleaned
1   garlic clove, crushed with a mortar and pestle
¼ cup   (firmly packed) flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
½   lemon, juice only
1 tbsp   olive oil
4   thin slices of pancetta
Salmorejo
200 gm   very ripe vine-ripened tomatoes, coarsely chopped
1   small garlic clove, crushed
50 gm   crustless two-day-old bread, coarsely chopped
1 tbsp   extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling


1 For salmorejo, process tomato and garlic in a food processor until smooth. Pass through a fine sieve, discarding solids. Place bread in food processor, add tomato juice and pulse to combine, then rest for 15 minutes. Season to taste with sea salt. With motor running, gradually add olive oil and 40ml chilled water and process until mixture is smooth and velvety. Set aside.
2 Cook egg in a saucepan of boiling water until hard boiled (7-9 minutes). Cool under running water, peel, coarsely chop, place in a bowl and refrigerate until needed.
3 Combine prawns, garlic, 1 tsp parsley, lemon juice and olive oil in a bowl. Season to taste and set aside.
4 Meanwhile, preheat a grill on high heat. Place pancetta on a lightly greased oven tray and grill until crisp and golden (3-5 minutes each side). Cool, then crumble.
5 Heat a barbecue or chargrill plate on high. Cook prawns, turning once, until just cooked through (2-3 minutes each side). Spoon salmorejo evenly into 4 serving dishes, top with 3 prawns and scatter chopped egg, crumbled pancetta and remaining parsley over. Drizzle with olive oil and serve immediately.


RECIPE Jesse Gerner, Añada PHOTOGRAPHY Chris Chen STYLING Vanessa Austin

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