Guajillo garlic prawns with strips of dried guajillo chilli and parsley, with crusty bread, lime and dried guajillo chillies

Mains

Guajillo garlic prawns

Camarones al ajillo are prawns cooked fast in plenty of garlic, oil and butter with strips of dried guajillo. The chilli adds colour and a fruity, mildly smoky warmth rather than a lot of heat. Serve with bread to mop up the juices, or over rice.

Guajillo is the dried form of the mirasol chilli. Leave mirasol on the plant until deep red, then dry it until leathery and flexible.

  • Prep 15 min
  • Cook 10 min
  • Total 25 min
  • Serves 4

Ingredients

  • 600 g raw prawns, peeled and deveined
  • 3 dried guajillo chillies, stems and seeds removed
  • 60 ml olive oil
  • 40 g butter
  • 8 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
  • ½ tsp salt
  • Juice of 1 lime
  • 2 tbsp chopped parsley or coriander
  • Crusty bread or rice, to serve

Method

  1. Step 1

    Slice

    Snip the guajillos into thin strips with scissors.

  2. Step 2

    Infuse

    Warm the oil and butter in a large frying pan over a medium-low heat. Add the garlic and cook gently for 3 minutes until pale golden.

  3. Step 3

    Toast

    Add the guajillo strips and stir for 30 seconds, until fragrant. Don't let them darken too much or they turn bitter.

  4. Step 4

    Cook

    Turn up the heat, add the prawns and salt and cook for 2 minutes a side until pink.

  5. Step 5

    Finish

    Squeeze over the lime, scatter with herbs and serve straight away with bread or rice.

Grow your own

The chillies in this recipe are easy to grow from seed in New Zealand.

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