Prawn Cocktail A La Delia Smith

Total Time: 35 mins Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 5 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 6
• 2 lbs large shrimp, in their shells or 1 lb cooked and cleaned large shrimp
• 1 crisp-hearted lettuce, such as cos
• 1 ounce rocket
• 1 ripe but firm avocado
• cayenne pepper
• 1 whole lime, divided into 6 wedge-shaped sections
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise (or more if needed)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons worcestershire sauce
• 3 drops tabasco sauce
• 2 tablespoons tomato ketchup (preferably organic)
• 1 teaspoon lime juice (more if needed.)

Recipe

• 1 prawns:.
• 2 the very best version of this is made with prawns (either fresh or frozen in their shells) that you have cooked yourself.
• 3 failing that, buy the large cooked prawns in their shells, or if you can only get shelled prawns, get those.
• 4 to prepare them: if frozen put them in a colander and allow to defrost thoroughly at room temperature for about 1 hour.
• 5 after that, if using uncooked prawns, heat a large solid frying pan or wok and dry-fry the prawns for 4-5 minutes until the grey turns a vibrant pink.
• 6 as soon as they're cool, reserve 6 in their shells for a garnish and peel the remainder.
• 7 then take a small sharp knife, make a cut along the back of each peeled prawn and remove any black thread.
• 8 place them in a bowl, cover with film wrap and keep in the fridge until needed.
• 9 to make the sauce::.
• 10 take mayonnaise and add it to the rest of the sauce ingredients.
• 11 stir and taste to check the seasoning, then keep the sauce covered with film wrap in the refrigerator, until needed.
• 12 assembly.
• 13 when you are ready to serve, shred the lettuce and rocket fairly finely and divide them between 6 stemmed glasses, then peel and chop the avocado into small dice and scatter this in each glass amongst the lettuce.
• 14 top with the prawns and the sauce, sprinkle a dusting of cayenne pepper on top and garnish with 1 section of lime and 1 unpeeled prawn per glass.
• 15 serve with brown bread and butter.