Prawn cocktail

Ingredients: 

• 6 large red peppers
• 10½ tbsp olive oil, plus extra for the peppers
• 10½ tsp lemon juice
• 800g/1lb 12oz peeled cooked small prawns or 48 large prawns, peeled
• 1 large iceberg lettuce, finely shredded (the finer the better)
• coarse sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
  For the Rouille sauce
• 225g/8oz roasted red pepper flesh, from a can or fresh
• 1 x 35g/1¼oz slice white bread, crusts removed
• 1 fat garlic clove, crushed
• ½ large red chilli, seeds removed and very finely sliced
• 8 tsp olive oil
• salt
  For the Cocktail sauce
• 12 tbsp thick, good quality mayonnaise
• 4 tbsp tomato ketchup
• 1¼ tsp lemon juice
• 4 tsp brandy
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
  To assemble
• Eight 6cm x 5cm/2½ x 2in stainless steel cooking rings (if unavailable, you can buy plastic piping and cut to size)
   

The peppers are going to be cooked, peeled and cut into discs using the cooking rings, to create the tops and bases for the prawn cocktail 'cakes'. Rub the peppers with a little olive oil and place on a baking tray. Sit the peppers under a preheated medium-hot grill and not too close to the heat. Allow them to cook, colour and start to burn. As they burn, turn them, and continue until they are coloured all over.
Once cooked, remove from the heat and allow to cool for a few minutes. The skin will now pull away very easily. Once all are peeled, cut them open through one side. They will now spread into one long red strip. Carefully remove the stalk and scrape away all the seeds. Cut out 16 discs of red pepper using one of the metal cooking rings. Save the trimmings for making the rouille if you wish.
Now make the rouille. If using canned peppers you can soak the bread in the pepper juices from the can. Otherwise use water. Leave it to soak for 10-15 minutes, then squeeze out the excess, still leaving it moist. Remove any seeds from the peppers and roughly chop the flesh.
Place all the rouille ingredients, except for the olive oil, in a liquidiser or food processor and blitz to a puree. While the machine is still running, slowly add the oil. This will now emulsify, creating a sauce consistency. Once it is all added, season with salt and push through a sieve to create a smooth finish. The rouille is now ready to use.
To make the cocktail sauce, whisk together the mayonnaise and tomato ketchup. To ensure the right consistency, it's important that the mayonnaise is nice and thick. Add one more spoonful of tomato ketchup if you prefer a sweeter flavour. Add the lemon juice and the brandy and season to taste with the salt and pepper.
For the lemon dressing, whisk together the olive oil with 8 teaspoons of the lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper and set aside with the other sauces.
Now start building the prawn cocktail 'cakes'. Dice 8 of the larger prawns or 150g/5oz of the smaller prawns, which will be used to mix through the lettuce, creating more flavour and texture.
Sit the rings on a board or clean work surface. Season the pepper discs and place one in the base of each ring. Mix the diced prawns with the finely shredded iceberg lettuce, the remaining 2½ teaspoons of lemon juice, 4 tablespoons of the cocktail sauce and some salt and pepper to taste. The texture should be just binding.
Divide the lettuce among the eight rings, pushing the mixture down to create a firm base, but not breaking the lettuce. Once all is packed in, sit the remaining pepper discs on top.
Now I like to decorate around the outside of each serving plate with drizzles of the sauces (cocktail, rouille and lemon dressing). They can be spooned around or, for the perfect finish, fill small, plastic squeezy bottles with each sauce. They can now be piped to your own design, alternating all three on each plate.
Using a fish slice, lift the 'cakes' in their rings carefully to the centre of each plate. The remaining prawns can now be arranged on top, overlapping them to create a pyramid finish, and seasoned. (Note: The Prawncocktail pictured has just one prawn on top.)
Now's the time to lift off the rings carefully. A trickle or two more of the cocktail sauce and lemon dressing can be drizzled over the prawns. Serve straightaway.

 

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