Butter-poached Prawns in Brioche
This is a more economical recipe than lobster rolls and in my opinion just as good. I have deliberately kept the quantities unspecified here as you can scale the recipe up as needed. We often only pull out more indulgent dishes for a crowd but there’s no reason you couldn’t do this for a smaller number of people.
Local raw prawns will deliver the sweetest results. I prefer to devein and remove the shells myself but if this seems beyond you, no judgement. Poaching the prawns in batches in a small pan means you can get away with using less butter. You will brush the brioche with this same butter later in the recipe but there will still be leftovers. Strain it well and keep in the fridge to use at a later date.
ingredients
- raw prawns, peeled and deveined
- unsalted butter, quantity will depend on size of your saucepan
- mayonnaise – store bought is totally fine
- dill/parsley/chives, finely chopped
- lemon zest
- salt and pepper to taste
- brioche rolls
- lettuce (cos/butter/iceberg – your call), shredded
First up, melt the butter in a small saucepan over a low heat then add garlic. Keep the saucepan on a low heat so that the butter doesn’t bubble as we’re poaching, not frying the shellfish. Add the prawns a few at a time (the exact amount will depend on the size of your pan) and they will only take a few minutes to cook through. To check if a prawn is cooked, cut through the thickest part and if it is opaque and not translucent it is cooked.
Drain the cooked prawns of any excess butter, then cut them into large chunks and dress with just enough mayonnaise to bring the mix together. Season this mix with herbs of choice, lemon zest and salt and pepper to taste.
Brush the brioche rolls with more melted butter and pile the mayo prawn mix along with some shredded lettuce inside the rolls. Eat with abandon!
