by Lynn Bain •
Ever wanted to add something light and a little zesty to your table experience? Catch a lot of prawns on the last full moon and don’t know how to do them culinary justice? Here’s a simple recipe to get your mouth watering. In a nutshell, these prawn quesadillas are single tortillas that are folded over, with a prawn and cheese filling, and then baked in the oven until the tortillas are almost crispy.
They can be crispy if you like, of course, and they make a wonderful lunch or dinner treat for casual eating or dinner parties alike. This versatile dish is well matched with intricate salads or it can be made as a quick dish for those easy-going nights after a busy day on the water.
These quesadillas go well with margaritas, so you can always have some ice in the freezer ready to crush, and keep some limes, salt and tequila from this recipe for drinks later. You can also serve lemonade for the little ones – lemonade works with this meal too. Now let’s get started with the real fun.
Ingredients
3 tbsp cooking oil
3 cups finely grated cheese
2-3 tbsp roughly chopped coriander leaves
3 green shallots (finely sliced with white and green parts in separate bowls)
750g green prawns (peeled, deveined and sliced in half lengthways)
Freshly ground salt and pepper
2 cloves garlic (finely grated)
1 small red chilli (deseeded and very finely chopped)
3 tbsp tequila (optional), juice of half a lime
4 large tortillas.
Step 1
In a bowl, mix together the grated cheese, roughly chopped coriander leaves and the sliced greener parts of the shallots. Then place the bowl to one side.
Step 2
Blot the prawns dry with some paper towels and then sprinkle the prawns with a little salt and pepper.
Step 3
Heat a tablespoon of the cooking oil over a medium heat in a heavy based frypan. Sauté the sliced white parts of the green shallots, garlic and chilli until softened. If you like, you can add a bit of tequila to the pan and continue to cook until the tequila has evaporated.
Step 4
Add the prawns to the pan and cook until the prawns are pink and cooked through.
Step 5
Transfer the contents of the pan to a bowl and stir through the lime juice. Then drain the contents of the bowl through a sieve to remove any liquid. Doing this will minimize the risk of a soggy quesadilla.
Step 6
Lay the tortillas out on a clean work surface. Sprinkle half of the cheese mixture over half of each tortilla, leaving a clean border around the edge of the tortilla. Lay a quarter of the prawn mixture over the top of the cheese. Now sprinkle some of the remaining cheese mixture over the top of the prawns.
Step 7
Fold the tortilla in half over the top of the prawns and cheese. Carefully place the quesadilla on the tray. Brush the surface of the quesadillas with the remaining cooking oil. Place the rounded edge of the quesadilla towards the centre of the sheet. Place the quesadillas into the oven and cook until they start to brown. Carefully flip the quesadillas over and cook for a further five minutes.
Step 8
Remove the tray of quesadillas from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack. Slice each quesadilla into wedges and serve with either guacamole or sour cream.
Enjoy!
