Prawn Buzara
My mother and I work very well as a team when we host parties, we each know what we can cook and we plan menus accordingly so our parties run smoothly. But every now and then she'll plan on me cooking something she wants to serve, that I've never cooked before.
So she decided she wants to cook a prawn buzara, I arrive at her house knowing I'm making fregola with prawns, mussels and pipis, but now she's thrown in this recipe. So now I'm cooking two meals, one I know well, and one I need to quickly read about and find a recipe, I can use as a guide. So I found this one which used scampi, not prawns, and used it as a guide. She also bought 2kg of prawns, not 1kg, so no pressure in getting it wrong, as prawns are expensive and doubling recipes, can sometimes go wrong. So halve the recipe if you don't need 2kg prawns.
But I nailed it, I cooked the prawns perfectly, the sauce was delicious. It is messy eating prawns with the shell on, but the shells add so much flavour to the dish, that I would never make this using peeled prawns.
Cooking times will vary slightly depending on the size of your prawns, you just need to keep an eye on the colour of the prawns and use that as your guide.
This dish can be made with mussels, scampi and crabs also.
This is quite quick to make and absolutely delicious. My family loved it, hope yours do to.
So she decided she wants to cook a prawn buzara, I arrive at her house knowing I'm making fregola with prawns, mussels and pipis, but now she's thrown in this recipe. So now I'm cooking two meals, one I know well, and one I need to quickly read about and find a recipe, I can use as a guide. So I found this one which used scampi, not prawns, and used it as a guide. She also bought 2kg of prawns, not 1kg, so no pressure in getting it wrong, as prawns are expensive and doubling recipes, can sometimes go wrong. So halve the recipe if you don't need 2kg prawns.
But I nailed it, I cooked the prawns perfectly, the sauce was delicious. It is messy eating prawns with the shell on, but the shells add so much flavour to the dish, that I would never make this using peeled prawns.
Cooking times will vary slightly depending on the size of your prawns, you just need to keep an eye on the colour of the prawns and use that as your guide.
This dish can be made with mussels, scampi and crabs also.
This is quite quick to make and absolutely delicious. My family loved it, hope yours do to.
Recipe
Recipe adapted from Dennis Valcich's Croatian cookbook 'A Walk Through Croatia'
Serves 6
2kg raw prawns in the shell
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1-2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 teaspoon vegeta
8 roma tomatoes, finely chopped
1 cup white wine
1-2 tablespoon white bread crumbs
Salt and Pepper, to taste
Serves 6
2kg raw prawns in the shell
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1-2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 teaspoon vegeta
8 roma tomatoes, finely chopped
1 cup white wine
1-2 tablespoon white bread crumbs
Salt and Pepper, to taste
Prepare the prawns, you need to leave the shells on for this recipe as they add flavour to the dish, but I like to devein them. Just make a slit in the prawn between the head and the body, then with your knife or a skewer, slowly lift up the black intestine, when you can grip it, straighten up the prawn body and slowly pull it out. If it breaks, you can just make a slit near the tail and do the same from that end. You can't see the slits once cooked.
Take a large deep frying pan (or wok) (that has a lid), add oil, place over a high heat.
Add garlic, wait 5-10 seconds, then add the prawns, tossing them about to disperse the garlic, so it doesn't burn and to start cooking the prawns. Add parsley, vegeta and a little salt and pepper. Toss again. Cover and cook for 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally, so the prawns cook evenly. Cooking time will depend on the size of your prawns.
Add garlic, wait 5-10 seconds, then add the prawns, tossing them about to disperse the garlic, so it doesn't burn and to start cooking the prawns. Add parsley, vegeta and a little salt and pepper. Toss again. Cover and cook for 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally, so the prawns cook evenly. Cooking time will depend on the size of your prawns.
When you see that the prawns are starting to go orange, but before they are cooked through, add the wine, cook, covered, stirring occasionally for a further 3-4 minutes.
When the prawns are nearly cooked through, add the tomatoes and breadcrumbs, stir, cook for a further two minutes, them remove from heat.
Serve in a large bowl with some crusty bread.
When the prawns are nearly cooked through, add the tomatoes and breadcrumbs, stir, cook for a further two minutes, them remove from heat.
Serve in a large bowl with some crusty bread.
Enjoy!