Butterflied Prawns with Green Papaya Salad Passionfruit Dressing

My sisters and I subconsciously migrate to our mother’s apartment on the weekends. It’s a fascinating phenomenon, and made more so by the fact we all arrive around lunchtime!

I’m usually first - to ‘direct’ mum with the menu. Grace - who has an antipathy to kitchens, arrives and takes her place at the table. Preparing food is not her ‘thing’ just yet, however, she’s taken to being waited on like a duck to water!

This recipe’s inspiration comes from the magnificent passion fruit! Now there’s nothing wrong with lemons, I personally couldn’t live without them, but ‘change is a good as a holiday’, and my passion fruit prawns with papaya salad turned out to be absolutely magnificent!

Grace endeavoured to ask some rudimentary cooking questions - flattery gets her everywhere - in her excitement to taste the fruits of my labour! Who knows, she may turn out to be next years ‘Master Chef’! Or maybe Matt Preston … lots of coaching, very little cooking!

Ingredients

Serves 4

12 large, raw, king prawns

1 tbsp. lime zest

½ tsp. sea salt

1 tbsp. grape seed oil

1 large green papaya, peeled, cut into matchsticks

1 granny smith apple, cored, cut into matchsticks

4 shallots, finely sliced

½ cup loosely packed mint leaves

Passionfruit Dressing

6 passionfruit pulp

2 limes, juice of

2 tbsp. grape seed oil

½ tsp. sea salt

Method

1.    Peel the prawns, leaving the tails on, then butterfly them by cutting along the back of each one and opening them out like a book

2.    Toss the prawns, lime zest, salt and grape seed oil in a bowl and set aside

3.   To make the dressing place all ingredients in a jar, screw the lid on tight, shake well until combined. Set aside

4.    Heat a heavy-based frypan to a high heat. Cook the prawns, cut side down, for 4 minutes or until cooked through

5.    Place the prawns on a platter and drizzle with a few spoonful’s of passion fruit dressing

6.    Toss the papaya, apple, shallots, mint leaves and a glug of passion fruit dressing in a bowl and serve with the prawns