Tiger Prawns Tray Bake with Olives, Tomatoes and Breadcrumbs

With

Silvia Colloca

Italian tray-baked tiger prawns with tomatoes, olives, chilli and crisp breadcrumbs.

SERVES

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About this recipe

Silvia Colloca's tiger prawns roasted with halved cherry tomatoes, pitted olives, smashed garlic and chilli, finished with toasted breadcrumbs for crunch. Italian coastal cooking, all the prep done before the tray hits the oven. Twelve minutes, hot from the pan to the table.

The pre-roast of the tomatoes is the small step that separates this from a sad prawn bake. The tomatoes go in first (with garlic, olive oil and a splash of balsamic), roast for ten minutes until they blister and start to collapse, and then the prawns join the tray for the final cook. This way the tomato sauce has time to concentrate and develop depth; if the prawns went in at the start, they would overcook by the time the tomatoes were ready.

Tiger prawns (or any large prawn with the heads on if you can get them) cook in three to four minutes in a hot oven. The shells protect the flesh from drying out; the heads release the umami-rich hepatopancreatic juice that flavours the surrounding sauce. Keep the tails on for the visual; remove the dark digestive vein from the back before roasting.

The toasted breadcrumbs are the Sicilian-Apulian flourish (pangrattato) that gives the dish its textural counterpoint. Stale bread toasted in olive oil with garlic and chilli until deep gold, then scattered over the prawns just before serving. The crumbs absorb the cooking juices and provide the crunch that the soft prawns and the burst tomatoes can't. Crusty bread alongside for the bowl.

Ingredients

- 12 tiger prawns, peeled and de-veined, but still with the tails attached

- 2 cups of cherry or heirloom tomatoes

- 4-5 tablespoons of olives, pitted

- 4 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil

- 2 garlic cloves

- 1-2 long red chillies

- 1 tablespoon of finely chopped parsley

- 2 slices of stale sourdough

- salt for seasoning

- 2 tablespoons Balsamic to drizzle

- 2 tablespoons Parsley leaves for breadcrumbs and to serve

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 180 C. In your oven tray add in your halved tomatoes, olives, 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, salt, balsamic, 1 garlic clove (skin on, bashed with the back of a knife), and one or two long chillies cut in half lengthways and bake for 20 minutes.

2. In the meantime, prepare the prawns. Remove the heads, add to a SNAP Lock Bag and freeze for a later use (they make a great fish stock!). Peel them, but keep the tail attached. Using a paring knife, score the back to remove the black line in the middle. Brush them with a little extra-virgin olive oil.

3. Take the tray out of the oven, place the prawns on top of the roasted tomatoes, season them with salt and put them back in the oven for 6-7 minutes or until just cooked through. In the meantime, make the crispy breadcrumbs.

4. Process the stale bread in a food processor. Blitz until coarse breadcrumbs form. To the breadcrumbs add in garlic that has been micro planed and your parsley stalks.

5. Heat up the remaining olive oil in a skillet and shallow fry the breadcrumbs mixture until golden and fragrant, add salt to taste.

6. Sponsors:

7. Clorox – SNAP Lock Bag

8. Mazzetti – Balsamic Gold Label

Silvia Colloca

Silvia Colloca is a Roman-born cook, opera singer and cookbook author who has spent the last decade documenting the regional cooking of Italy from her home in Sydney. She fronts Silvia’s Masterclass, working through the country one mother-recipe at a time. Her style is patient: fresh pasta by hand, long-rise focaccia, sauces built slow.