Prawn cocktail

Do you have a soft spot for this retro classic? What kind of prawns do you use, is iceberg essential, and can any fancy sauces beat mayonnaise mixed with tomato ketchup?

If you haven’t had a prawn cocktail for a while, do try this recipe, it’ll transport you right back to the early 80s (if you’re old enough to remember them the first time around).

Clearly, in an ideal world, I’d take a leaf from Delia’s book and cook the prawns myself. The problem is, I’m convinced that smaller North Atlantic prawns have a sweeter flavour than the farmed east Asian giants. 

Also in an ideal world, I would also make my own mayonnaise but the taste of this Tiptree Truffle mayonnaise is simply put ‘heaven on earth’. An extra touch of luxury to this rather inexpensive classic starter.  

Wherever your plating tastes lie, there are two keys to a good prawn cocktail and, let’s be honest, they’re pretty obvious: the prawns and the cocktail sauce.

Talking about the Marie rose sauce, it should be punchy rather than blandly sweet, and is helped along in this endeavour by a generous shake of tabasco and in my case chilly chutney. It should generously coat the prawns, but not swamp them.

Ingredients

• 400g prawns peeled and cooked
• 4 Little Gem lettuces, washed and trimmed
• 5 heaped tbsp Tiptree Truffle mayonnaise
• 2 tbsp Tiptree Chilli Chutney 
• 2 tsp Tomato ketchup 
• 1 radish – chopped 
• tiny splash Tabasco sauce
• squeeze lemon juice
• paprika, for dusting
• spring onions 

Method

1. In a small bowl, mix together the mayonnaise, chutney, and ketchup.
2. Add the tabasco, then stir in the lemon juice, spring onions and radish until well combined. Season to taste. Stir in the prawns, reserving some for garnish.
3. Break the lettuces into individual leaves, then divide the leaves evenly between 4 small glass/ceramic bowls.
4. Top with the prawn cocktail mixture and garnish each with a prawn (in my case a strawberry) and cayenne pepper and serve immediately. Delicious with garlic bread.

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Prawn Cocktail Recipe

Prep Time

20 mins

Total Time

20 mins

 

As this recipe uses cooked prawns you can buy in a shop, it’s relatively quick to make as it’s just a case of mixing up the sauce. Plus, you’ll likely already have a lot of the ingredients in your cupboard too, so it’s not too expensive to throw together.

Course: Appetizer

Cuisine: British

Keyword: prawn coktail

Servings: 4

Calories: 173 kcal

Ingredients

• 400 g prawns peeled and cooked
• 4 Little Gem lettuces washed and trimmed
• 5 heaped tbsp Tiptree Truffle mayonnaise
• 2 tbsp Tiptree Chilli Chutney
• 2 tsp Tomato ketchup
• 1 radish – chopped
• tiny splash Tabasco sauce
• squeeze lemon juice
• paprika for dusting
• spring onions

Instructions

1. In a small bowl, mix together the mayonnaise, chutney, and ketchup.
2. Add the tabasco, then stir in the lemon juice, spring onions and radish until well combined. Season to taste. Stir in the prawns, reserving some for garnish.
3. Break the lettuces into individual leaves, then divide the leaves evenly between 4 small glass/ceramic bowls.
4. Top with the prawn cocktail mixture and garnish each with a prawn (in my case a strawberry) and cayenne pepper and serve immediately. Delicious with garlic bread.