Prawns Provençale
Description
I learned how to make this prawns Provençale recipe working for a caterer back in the 80s. Be sure to season the bread crumbs well. Butterflying the prawns takes time, but practically everything except the baking can be done ahead. Serve them with any number of dips (like lemon aioli) or just a squeeze of fresh lemon.
Ingredients
- 3 cloves garlic
- ¼ teaspoon dried oregano leaves
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme leaves
- 1 pinch kosher salt, or to taste
- ⅓ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf (italian) parsley, divided
- ⅓ cup olive oil, or more as needed
- 1 cup plain dry bread crumbs
- ½ cup freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 pinch kosher salt
- 1 pinch cayenne pepper, or to taste
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F (245 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil; brush with 1 tablespoon olive oil.
- Carefully remove shells and legs from shrimp; leave tails attached. Butterfly shrimp by cutting a slit lengthwise down belly side of shrimp almost to the skin on the back using a small sharp knife; open shrimp like a book. Repeat with remaining shrimp.
- Place garlic, oregano, thyme, and large pinch kosher salt in a mortar; pound and stir with a pestle for a few seconds. Add 1 tablespoon parsley; pound and stir until it turns into a paste, 1 to 2 minutes. Add ⅓ cup olive oil; stir until olive oil is infused with herbs and garlic, about 1 minute.
- Place bread crumbs in a bowl; stir in herb-garlic infused oil. Add cheese, remaining parsley, black pepper, 1 pinch kosher salt, and 1 pinch cayenne pepper; mix with a fork until evenly combined. Pinch off a bit of bread crumb mixture; if it feels a bit dry and doesn't stick to your finger, drizzle in a bit more olive oil. Stir until mixture reaches desired consistency, 2 to 3 minutes.
- Lightly but thoroughly top cut-sides shrimp with bread crumb mixture; place on the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake in the preheated oven until cooked through and tails curl up, 8 to 10 minutes.
