or you could use cooked Mediterranean prawns in their shells
4oz/110g chorizo sausage
peeled and cut into 3/4 inch (2 cm) pieces
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion
peeled and cut into 1/2 inch (1 cm) slices
2 cloves garlic
peeled and crushed
2 sticks celery
trimmed and sliced into 1/2 inch (1 cm) pieces on the diagonal
1 green chilli
deseeded and finely chopped
1 yellow pepper
deseeded and cut into 1/2 inch (1 cm) slices
6fl oz/175ml white basmati rice
1 tsp Tabasco sauce
3 medium tomatoes
dropped into boiling water for 1 minute
then peeled and chopped
1 bay leaf
1 tbsp roughly chopped flat-leaf parsley
to garnish
2 spring onions
trimmed and finely sliced
to garnish
salt and freshly milled black pepper
Directions
Begin by bringing a pan with 1 pint (570 ml) of water to simmering point. If using raw prawns
drop them into the water for 3 minutes. After that
remove them with a draining spoon
reserving the cooking liquid. (Cooked prawns will not need this pre-cooking.) Now set aside two whole prawns and shell the rest. To do this
just remove the heads by giving them a sharp tug
then simply peel off the rest - which comes away very easily - but leave the tails intact as this makes them look nicer. Now remove the black vein from the back of each prawn
which will come away easily using the point of a sharp knife. Next place the shells in the pan of water and simmer for 30 minutes
without a lid
to make a nice prawn-flavoured stock
then drain and discard the shells. Pour the hot stock into a jug and cover with a plate to keep warm.
Now heat the frying pan over a high heat and brown the pieces of chorizo sausage
without adding any fat
then remove them from the pan to a plate and set aside. Then add a tablespoon of the oil and
when it's hot
fry the onions for 2-3 minutes to brown them a little at the edges
then return the chorizo to the pan and add the garlic
celery
chilli and sliced pepper. Continue to fry for 4-5 minutes
till the celery and pepper are also softened and lightly tinged brown at the edges
adding a little more oil if you need to.
Now stir in the rice to get a good coating of oil
then measure out 12 fl oz (340 ml) of the reserved stock and add the Tabasco to it. Next add the chopped tomatoes and bay leaf to the pan
then pour in the stock. Season with salt and freshly milled black pepper
give it all one stir and push the rice down into the liquid. Now turn the heat to low
put a lid on and let it barely simmer for 20 minutes.
Then
check the rice is cooked and return the shelled and the two reserved shell-on prawns to the pan
adding a little more stock if necessary. Cover with a lid for 5 more minutes
then serve garnished with the chopped parsley and spring onions.
