recipes & images by Kathy Paterson
If you have a jar of preserved lemons in your fridge, add a teaspoon of finely chopped preserved lemon into the butter mixture to up the flavour stakes.
Serves 6–8
75g butter, softened
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tbsp chopped flat leaf parsley
1 tbsp chopped dill
½ tsp bittersweet smoked paprika
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
500g packet jumbo raw prawn cutlets with tail on, thawed
To make the butter, put the butter in a bowl and beat well using a wooden spoon until it looks almost whipped. Add the garlic, herbs, smoked paprika and lemon zest and mix to combine. Taste to see if you need to add any salt.
To prepare the prawns, cut down the back of each prawn to open out (butterfly).
Heat a barbecue hot plate (or use a large frying pan), until hot. Brush prawns with some of the lemon butter (but not too much here as it tends to burn quickly), and, in batches, put on the hot plate and cook until they turn pink and are no longer translucent. Try not to overcook.
Arrange prawns on a plate. Melt any extra butter and drizzle over the prawns. Definitely serve a napkin and a finger bowl filled with warm water and a slice of lemon. Leave out a small bowl for the tail shells.
You can also finish the plate of prawns with a dusting of bittersweet smoked paprika and a few extra sprigs of dill.