Chilli, bacon & butterflied prawn skewers
Watermelon salad topped with quick pickled chillies
40 mins plus marinating
Not Too Tricky
serves 4
About the recipe
I’m heroing the fruity-freshness of chillies in this refreshing summery dish. Using them as a veg in their own right and threading them onto skewers as perfect party food to impress your guests is a brilliant way to celebrate the heat, flavour and undeniable excitement that these pocket rockets bring to a dish.
Ingredients
320g large raw shell-on king prawns, from sustainable sources
½ a bunch of fresh basil (15g)
½ a bunch of fresh flat-leaf parsley (15g)
1 clove of garlic
2 lemons
olive oil
2 x 1.5cm-thick slices of crusty bread
2 red chillies
8 rashers of higher-welfare smoked streaky bacon or pancetta
SALAD
800g watermelon
1 cucumber
1 small red onion
100g feta cheese
½ a bunch of fresh mint (15g)
½ a bunch of fennel tops (10g)
extra virgin olive oil
1 jar of quick pickled chillies (see tip)
Top Tip
QUICK PICKLED CHILLIES
Roughly slice a handful of mixed-colour chillies and wash them under cold running water. Half-fill a sterilised jam jar with white wine vinegar, then add 1 heaped teaspoon of sea salt and a swig of maple syrup. Add a few sprigs of soft herbs and the chillies, then top up with extra vinegar, if needed, and secure the lid. Leave to pickle – you can eat them after just 10 minutes, but they’re optimal after 3 or 4 days. Once open, they’ll keep in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
Method
I’m heroing the fruity-freshness of chillies in this refreshing summery dish. Using them as a veg in their own right and threading them onto skewers as perfect party food to impress your guests is a brilliant way to celebrate the heat, flavour and undeniable excitement that these pocket rockets bring to a dish.
Preheat your barbecue. If using wooden skewers, soak them in cold water for 10 minutes, so they don't burn when you put them on the barbecue later.
Twist the heads off the prawns and peel them, leaving the tails intact. Run a knife down the back of each prawn to open them up (this is called butterflying), and pull out the veins.
Pick the basil and parsley into a pestle and mortar, add a small pinch of sea salt, then bash to a paste. Peel and bash in the garlic, add the zest and juice of half a lemon and muddle in 2 tablespoons of olive oil, then toss with the prawns. Leave to marinate in the fridge for 1 hour.
Slice the bread into rustic cubes. Halve and deseed the chillies, then cut them into the same sized chunks as the bread.
Skewer up the prawns, bread and chilli, interlacing them with the bacon or pancetta as you go – don’t pack everything together too tightly.
Slice the peel off the watermelon, then chop the flesh into 1cm cubes, discarding any seeds, and place on a serving platter. Peel the cucumber, halve lengthways and scrape out the seeds, then slice and add to the platter.
Peel and finely chop the onion, season with a small pinch of sea salt and add a squeeze of lemon juice. Chop the feta into 1cm cubes and add to the platter with the onion. Pick over the mint leaves and tear over the fennel, then drizzle with 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and a good squeeze of lemon juice. Toss together and season to perfection.
Finely chop 1 tablespoon of quick pickled chillies (see tip) and sprinkle it over the salad.
Cook the skewers on the barbecue for 4 to 6 minutes, or until the bacon or pancetta is crisp and the prawns are just pink, turning regularly and adding squeezes of lemon juice as they cook.
Serve the skewers on top of the salad, then place in the middle of the table and tuck in!
