MEDITERRANEAN
GARLIC PRAWNS WITH STAR ANISE
- Timescale In A Hurry
- Serves 2-4
- Difficulty Simple
Although traditionally Spanish, we discovered Gambas à la Guilho whilst in Lisbon and fell in love with the garlic drenched prawns, eagerly mopped up with toasted bread. I think we ate them virtually every day.
We’ve opted to add the flavour of Star Anise to our own version – a wonderful foil to prawns. Not only are these garlic prawns utterly moreish, but the recipe is also incredibly quick and easy to put together. They make for a wonderful healthy dinner for two or an ideal tapas-style starter for four people.


Ingredients
THE PRAWNS
12–15 Extra Large King Prawns, shelled
50ml Dry White Wine,
25g Butter,
1 Star Anise,
Generous Pinch of Salt & Pepper
THE SAUCE
100ml Extra Virgin Olive
40g Garlic,
40g Red Chillies, deseeded
40ml Lemon Juice,
TO COOK
Olive Oil
TO GARNISH
Chives, finely diced
METHOD
PREPARING THE SAUCE
- Place all the ingredients into a blender or food processor and blitz until a smooth, pink sauce is achieved. Set aside until needed.
TIP – I find using a hand blender with a beaker to be the best option.
THE PRAWNS
- Place a large frying pan over a high heat with a lug of olive oil in.
- Season the raw prawns with salt and add into the pan, searing and getting good colour on each side. About 30 seconds each.
- Add the butter and the wine into the pan and reduce the wine by half.
- Add the garlic sauce into the pan along with the star anise and simmer until reduced by half.
- Garnish the garlic prawns with chives and serve immediately, either on their own as a starter or with rice for a delicious dinner.
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