Mexican Prawns with Tomato Salsa and Avocado

This recipe comes from our new Mexican book, Rick Bayless’s Mexican Kitchen. We haven’t read through it in a lot of detail just yet but this recipe caught Stephen’s eye so we decided to cook it tonight. It’s straightforward but the beans we opted to serve with it require a little more attention which I wasn’t really paying at the time. I added too much water at the beginning and didn’t realise until it was too late. I didn’t have time to reduce the liquid down so I drained it away and probably drained away most of the flavour too. Some extra salt, a squeeze of lime juice and some chopped coriander rescued it pretty well though.

The prawns were good but even though I’ve eaten warm avocado a couple of times I still find it a little challenging. In hindsight, this would have been better with some flavoured rice and some crunchy tortilla but it wasn’t a disastrous combination.

Tomato Salsa

Serves Four

2 medium-small ripe tomatoes, cored and finely chopped

3-5 chillies, finely chopped

3 large garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 small white onion, finely chopped and rinsed

11/4 teaspoons salt

1 packet coriander, finely chopped

Mix together the tomatoes, chilli and garlic. Add the onion and salt. Stir in the coriander. This benefits from being made ahead and kept in the fridge.

Prawns

Serves Four

24 prawns, peeled and de-veined

2 tablespoons lime juice

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

2 small avocadoes

6 tablespoons coriander, chopped

Olive oil, for frying

Cover prawns with one tablespoon of the lime juice, salt and pepper and leave to marinate for 30 minutes. Pat dry with kitchen towel.

Dice the avocado.

Heat oil in a frying pan over a medium heat and lay the prawns in one layer. When half done (about 2.5-3 minutes), turn the prawns, add the salsa and remaining tablespoon of lime juice to the pan. When the prawns are cooked, remove from the pan and set aside but leave as much of the salsa in the pan as you can.

Add the avocado to the salsa and cook for 1.5-2 minutes.

Arrange the prawns on a serving plate, cover with salsa and sprinkle with coriander. Serve!