Gambas al ajillo | Garlic prawns

You’ll find this dish in pretty much every tapas bar in every coastal town in Spain, as well as in all the major cities. We love our fish and shellfish so much that the capital Madrid (which is in the middle of mainland Spain) is a major fresh fish importer, second only to Tokyo. 

There are two ways of preparing this dish, depending on whether you want to peel the prawns before cooking or not. Traditionally this would be cooked in a flameproof terracotta dish, which you then serve the prawns in – if you don’t have one you can use an ordinary frying pan and leave the heads and shells on. I love these either way.

INGREDIENTS

• 12 large raw Prawns

• 3 Garlic cloves, thinly sliced

• 100 ml olive Oil

• 3 dried cayenne Chillies (or other dried chilli)

• Sea Salt flakes

• 1 tablespoon freshly chopped flat-leaf Parsley

Preparation

1. Peel the prawns, leaving the tails intact (if you are using a frying pan you can cook the prawns in their shells). Sprinkle with a little sea salt. 

2. Put the olive oil, garlic and chilies in the terracotta pot or frying pan and place over a high heat. When the garlic starts to turn golden, add the prawns. Cook for 1 minute on each side, until they just turn pink. Sprinkle over the chopped parsley and serve immediately in the terracotta pot. Take care not to burn yourself as the oil and the terracotta will stay hot for several minutes.