Prawns and Feta in a Spicy Tomato Sauce

Brought to us by Beth and Kamal from Yama

We chose this dish because it’s so simple to make, but has such vibrant flavours.  Combining these fresh ingredients, what you get is a slightly sour, rich sauce that is the perfect base for seafood.  We experiment a lot with cooking at home, and came up with this dish a couple of years ago.  It’s not a fixed recipe; we see it more as a base for adding in whatever ingredients and flavours we have at home.  You could also experiment with adding clams, mussels or other fresh seafood into the mix.  This is a dish that looks impressive and feels like a sumptuous main course, but in fact it’s so simple to throw together and leave to simmer while you prepare salad or couscous to accompany it.  We would eat this on any weeknight at home, but it’s also perfect for dinner with friends.

Ingredients

For the main dish:
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 red chillies, finely chopped
6 large, ripe tomatoes, diced
1 handful of fresh parsley or coriander, finely chopped
2 – 3 juicy lemons
1 tbsp smoked paprika
10 large prawn, deshelled
Half a pack of good quality feta cheese, diced
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

For the salad:
2-3 small cucumbers, roughly diced
2-3 large tomatoes, roughly diced
2 avocados, roughly diced
½ tin chickpeas, drained
1 big handful fresh coriander, roughly chopped

For the salad dressing:
Juice of 1 – 2 lemons
1 – 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper
Za’atar
Sumac

Ingredients:

Preparation:

For the main dish:

1. In a large, lidded pan, gently fry the garlic and chilli in olive oil until the garlic starts to slightly brown.
2. Add the chopped tomatoes, keeping the heat low-medium. Squeeze in the juice of two lemons, and add a generous sprinkle (around a tablespoon) of smoked paprika.  Add in half the fresh herbs, and season with salt and pepper.
3. It can be useful to add a cup of water at this point, to help the tomatoes break down into a sauce.
4. Keep stirring regularly while the mixture simmers away. After 15 – 20 min, it should be looking saucier.  Taste, and add any seasoning to your preference.  We will sometimes add in some Turkish red pepper powder, for an extra kick.
5. Gently sink the prawns and feta chunks into the sauce. Cover the pan and leave for 5 – 10 mins.
6. After this time, the prawns will be cooked, while the feta will be getting gooey and crumbly.
7. Sprinkle over the rest of the fresh herbs to serve (you can also use finely sliced spring onion), and give a squeeze of juice from the last lemon.
8. Dish up with a fresh chopped salad, and hot flatbread from your local bakery for scooping up the sauce.

For the salad:

1. Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl.
2. In a glass or small jug, mix together the juice of one lemon, a tablespoon of olive oil, and season with salt and pepper.
3. Taste and add more lemon juice or olive oil according to your preference.
4. Pour over the salad and mix to coat.
5. Add a generous sprinkling of za’atar and sumac on top of the salad.

Serves:

2 - 4 people