Creamy Tuscan Prawns
These Tuscan-style prawns are creamy, delicious and SO simple to make!
Servings: 4
Cost: £4 / $5
Equipment
- Sharp Knife & Chopping Board
- Small Bowl & Tongs
- Kitchen/Parchment Paper
- Large Pan
- Jug (for stock)
- Fine Cheese Grater
Ingredients
- 500g / 1lb raw/peeled King Prawns/Shrimp (see notes)
- 2 tbsp Sun Dried Tomato Oil from the jar (sub olive oil)
- 1/2 tsp EACH: Salt & Black Pepper
- 2 tbsp Unsalted Butter
- 4 cloves of Garlic, finely diced
- 1/4 tsp EACH: Smoked Paprika, Oregano
- 1 tbsp Tomato Puree (Tomato Paste in US)
- 120ml / 1/2 cup Chicken Stock
- 240ml / 1 cup Double/Heavy Cream, at room temp
- 125g / 4oz Sun Dried Tomatoes, thinly sliced
- 40g / 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
- 1/2 bunch of Fresh Basil, finely diced (15g/0.5oz)
- 100g / 3.5oz Baby Spinach Leaves
- Crusty Bread & Lemon Wedges, to serve
Instructions
- Thoroughly pat the prawns dry with kitchen/parchment paper then coat in 2 tbsp oil and 1/2 tsp salt & pepper.
- Place a large pan over high heat. Once hot, space out half the prawns and leave to fry for 1 minute. Flip them over, fry for a further minute, then remove and repeat with the second batch.
- Lower the heat to medium and melt in the butter. Add the garlic, smoked paprika and oregano and fry for 30 seconds or so, then stir in the tomato puree and fry for a minute or so. Stir in the stock and cream, then stir in the parmesan, sun dried tomatoes and basil.
- Simmer for a few minutes until the sauce is fairly thick, stirring somewhat frequently. Stir in the spinach alongside the resting juices from the prawns. Once the spinach begins to wilt, stir in the prawns.
- Check for seasoning and adjust if needed then serve and enjoy!
Video
Notes
a) Prawns - Most pre-packed prawns will come ready to cook (deveined etc). You can use frozen, just make sure you thaw them first. I actually used 'jumbo' king prawns which were lovely.
b) Cooking prawns - They won't take long to cook, so a short high-heat fry will do the trick. Try to avoid them curling up into an 'O' shape as this typically means they're overcooked. A tight(ish) 'C' shape with some colour on each side is what you're aiming for.
c) Sauce consistency - You want it fairly thick before adding the spinach. The excess water from the spinach, alongside the resting juices from the prawns, will thin the sauce back out.
d) Spinach - I typically just remove any large stalks, but this is optional. It'll be quite tricky to stir through the sauce at the start. But as it wilts, it'll become much easier.
e) Serving - I love these with some crusty bread, but you could serve with rice or even mash if you'd like. I like a little squeeze of lemon at the end, but it's optional. It helps cut through the rich sauce, but you might prefer it without.
f) Calories - Just the prawns and no sides. Calories per serving.
Nutrition
Calories: 559kcal | Carbohydrates: 22.85g | Protein: 34.69g | Fat: 39.27g | Saturated Fat: 19.686g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3.749g | Monounsaturated Fat: 13.26g | Trans Fat: 0.353g | Cholesterol: 307mg | Sodium: 742mg | Potassium: 1641mg | Fiber: 4.6g | Sugar: 13.76g | Vitamin A: 3931IU | Vitamin C: 21.2mg | Calcium: 274mg | Iron: 4.43mg