Chef's Recipes

Chargrilled prawns with salmorejo and pancetta

Australian Gourmet Traveller Spanish recipe for chargrilled prawns with salmorejo and pancetta by Jesse Gerner from Melbourne restaurant Anada.

  • 15 mins preparation
  • 20 mins cooking plus resting
  • Serves 4
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Chargrilled prawns with salmorejo and pancetta
"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
To request a recipe, write to Fare Exchange, , GPO Box 4088, Sydney, NSW 2001, or email us. All requests should include the restaurant's name and address or business card, as well as your name and address.
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.

Ingredients

  • 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

Method

Main
  • 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.
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