King prawn salad with polenta crostini (Gamberi e polenta crostino)

Baked polenta, shallow-fried until golden is the making of a beautiful seafood friendship. Lucky Sotto Sopra has a caramelised prawn, mustard green and a black garlic salad to keep it company. Texture, colour, flavour - it's all there. The Chefs' Line

Gamberi e polenta crostino (King prawns, polenta fritters with red mustard leaves and black garlic) Credit: The Chefs' Line Series 2

• serves

  3

• prep

  30 minutes

• cook

  1 hour

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 3 green king prawns, peeled with heads and tails on
• 1 tbsp unsalted butter
• 2 tbsp gin
• Red mustard leaves, to serve

Prawn butter

• 2 tbsp olive oil

• 250 g prawn heads

• 1 white onion, peeled and finely chopped

• 2 tsp tomato paste

• 150 g ice cubes

• 250 g butter

Black garlic puree

• 50 g black garlic, peeled
• 25 ml water

Polenta crostini

• 100 g polenta
• 100 ml water
• 20 g butter
• 10 g Parmesan, grated 

Instructions

To make the prawn butter, heat the oil in a large saucepan over high heat. Add the prawn heads and cook until golden. Add the onion and tomato paste and cook until the onions soften. Add the ice cubes and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove from heat and stand for 30 minutes. Pour the mixture into a food processor and process into a paste, then pass through a fine sieve, pushing down on the solids to extract as much liquid as possible. Pour the bisque into a Thermomix or high-speed blend, add the butter and process to form bisque butter.

Meanwhile, to make the black garlic puree, place the black garlic and water in a high-speed blender or Thermomix and process until well combined. Strain through a fine sieve.

To make the polenta crostini, place the polenta and water in a medium heavy-based saucepan and gently bring to the boil. Cover the polenta with baking paper and cook over low heat for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Stir in the butter and Parmesan until well combined. Pour the mixture onto a large wooden board or onto a shallow tray and spread until 1 cm-thick and allow to cool. Cut the polenta into 5 cm squares, then cut each square in half to form triangles.

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Fry the polenta triangles on both sides until golden. Drain on paper towel.

While the polenta crostini are cooking, place another frying pan over high heat and add with 1 tablespoon olive oil. When hot, add the prawns and cook until golden on one side. Turn the prawns, then add the butter and flambé with the gin.

To serve, top each polenta crostino with a prawn, spoon over the prawn butter and top with small dollops of black butter and red mustard leaves.

Note

• The prawn butter is made in a larger quantity, which will blend successfully. The remaining prawn butter can be frozen for up to 2 months. 

This recipe is from Series 2 of The Chefs' Line airing weeknights at 6pm on SBS. Episodes will be available after broadcast via SBS On Demand. Join the conversation #TheChefsLine on Instagram @sbsfood, Facebook @SBSFood  and Twitter @SBS_Food. Check out sbs.com.au/thechefsline for episode guides, cuisine lowdowns, recipes and more! 

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.