Remember that when you are cooking a large number of prawns, you need enough space in the pan for them all to touch the bottom, so that they all sear quickly. If some of the prawns are not in direct contact with the pan, and therefore don’t get hot enough, then they will release their juices and boil in them rather than frying. So, no overcrowding. In the recipe overleaf, I have suggested that you cook the prawns in two batches to avoid this problem.
I have also suggested that you use some of the liquid from cooking the beans to make a little ‘sauce’. However, in our kitchen we never waste anything, so before we start this dish we make a stock from the shells of the prawns, which we use instead of the bean water.
We sauté the shells in a little olive oil with a splash of white wine, some chopped chilli and garlic (for about 150g prawn shells, we would use half a chilli and two garlic cloves), plus a tablespoon of our home-made tomato sauce (you could use tomato passata). Then we add enough water to cover (no more, as we want to concentrate the flavour), boil everything for 10 minutes and strain the stock, really squeezing the shells against the sieve.
450g fresh borlotti beans in their pods (around 250g podded) or 100g dried borlotti beans, soaked
½ head of garlic (unpeeled), plus 3 extra cloves, finely chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
bunch of sage
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
12 large fresh prawns, shell on
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons sliced sweet chilli pepper
½ wine glass of white wine
2 tablespoons tomato passata
salt and pepper
To serve:
1 garlic clove
handful of flat-leaf parsley
extra-virgin olive oil, preferably Tuscan
First cook the beans: put them into a large pot with the ½ head of garlic, the celery, sage and 2 tablespoons of the olive oil (don’t add salt until the beans are completely cooked, otherwise they will harden). Cover with plenty of cold water (about double the volume of the beans), put a lid on the pan and bring to the boil. Remove the lid, skim the foam from the top and reduce the heat to a gentle simmer. Cook until the beans are soft to the bite (45 minutes to 1 hour), stirring every 5-10 minutes, then leave to cool in their cooking water.
When the beans are almost ready, peel the prawns, leaving only the heads on. Run a sharp knife along the back as far as the tail and remove the black thread that runs down it. Then open out the prawns as far as you can.
Cook the prawns in 2 batches. Heat a large, heavy-based frying pan and add 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Add half the chopped garlic and half the sliced chilli, and cook for a few seconds over a medium heat, without allowing to colour. Season the prawns, then put them into the pan, back downwards. Once they have seared and caramelised a little, press the heads to release some of their juices. This not only helps the flavour but will reduce the temperature of the oil and prevent the garlic burning and turning bitter. If there still isn’t enough liquid and the garlic begins to colour too much, add a little more oil. Sauté the prawns for a couple of minutes, until they turn pink or dark red (depending on the type of prawn), then flip them over. Transfer to a warm plate.
Wipe out the pan with some kitchen paper. Add the rest of the oil, garlic and chilli and cook the rest of the prawns in the same way.
Return the first batch of prawns to the pan, then add the wine and let it evaporate. Remove the prawns and set aside in a warm place.
With a slotted spoon, take the beans from their cooking liquid (reserving the liquid) and put them into the pan in which you cooked the prawns. Season and bring to the boil, then add the tomato passata and a ladleful of the cooking water from the beans – you need to add enough liquid to create a little sauce around the beans. Adjust the seasoning if necessary. Let the beans heat through for a couple of minutes so they take on the garlic and chilli flavours. As they do so, crush a few of them with a wooden spoon to thicken the sauce. Return the prawns to the pan and toss everything together.
Quickly crush the garlic to a paste with the blade of a knife, chop the parsley on top and mix together.
Serve the beans and prawns drizzled liberally with extra-virgin olive oil. Season with lots of freshly ground black pepper and finish with the chopped parsley and garlic.
Capesante all’aspretto di zafferano Pan-fried scallops with saffron vinaigrette
Sautéed scallops are fantastic just with salad, if you don’t feel like making the celeriac purée with which we serve them in the restaurant. Scallops were a great revelation for me when I came to London, because here in the UK you have the best in the world. In the Mediterranean we have what are known as ‘queenies’, which are much smaller, and don’t have the same milky sweetness.
8 large fresh scallops or 12 small ones, cleaned but with any corals still attached
4-5 celery stalks
4 tablespoons Saffron vinaigrette (see page 52)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
salt and pepper
For the celeriac purée:
½ celeriac, diced
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 garlic cloves
1 sprig of rosemary
3 tablespoons double cream
20g butter
If the scallops have been in the fridge, bring them to room temperature before cooking.
To make the celeriac purée, preheat the oven to 180°C, gas 4, put the celeriac in an ovenproof dish with ½ wine glass of water, a pinch of salt and the olive oil, garlic and rosemary, seal completely with foil and then bake for about 30 minutes, until soft.
Transfer to a food processor and blend, adding the cream as you go. Then push through a fine sieve, so you have a smooth purée (it is important to process the celeriac while it is still hot, as it makes the purée smoother and it will pass through the sieve more easily). Keep the purée to one side.
Cut the celery into julienne strips and leave in a bowl with a handful of ice cubes to crisp them. Have the Saffron vinaigrette ready in a large, shallow bowl. Mix the lemon juice and extra-virgin olive oil.
Turn the oven up to 190°C, gas 5. Heat a large ovenproof frying pan – or 2 if you have 12 scallops (see my note about overcrowding the pan on page 105). When the pan is good and hot, but not smoking (or the scallops will burn), pour in the vegetable oil, then add the scallops. Don’t season them at this stage, or the salt will make them leach out their moisture and they will become dry.