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Prawns in Butternut Squash
Serves 4
More effort
Total time:
This is based on a Brazilian favourite, a festive dish called Camarao na Moranga, which is a large pumpkin filled with prawns in a spicy, creamy cheese and tomato sauce. Butternut squash is easier to serve individually and tastes lovely. You can't buy pimenta-de-cheiro here, but chili flakes work very nicely. My final change is to omit cream because butternut squash goes well with a slightly sharper sauce.
Skip to ingredients
4 small butternut squash: halved, seeds removed, and placed in roasting pan, cut side up
- 24 Slices of ginger
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Olive oil to drizzle
- 1/2 cup Water
Prawn filling for 4 people:
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 6 medium tomatoes, de-seeded, and preferably peeled too
- Salt
- 1 basil leaf
- Coriander, ground
- 800g or up to 1Kg shelled Prawns, no heads, no tails
- Chilli flakes or fresh pepper to taste
4 tbsp cream cheese (E.g.: Philadelphia or St. Moritz)
- Coriander, roughly chopped
Method
step 1
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (175 degrees C).step 2
Roast squash circa 40 minutes: in a roasting pan lined with 1 or 2mm water, and with 3 slices of ginger placed on each half squash. Grind over salt and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil and then roast until flesh is tender.step 3
Remove the slices of ginger.step 4
Place on plates with dark green salad to one side & ladle prawns into and over squash.step 5
Garnish with roughly chopped coriander.step 6
For the filling, while the squash is roasting, place a large cooking pot on the cooker.step 7
Briefly fry the garlic, and then add the chopped tomatoes.step 8
Add basic seasoning to taste --at least salt, 1 basil leaf, and powdered coriander-- and fry (on medium heat) for 2mins or until tomato juices begin to bubble. Add chilli to taste.step 9
As soon as the prawns turn pink or have warmed through, add the cream cheese cautiously and to personal taste. The sauce should be a soft pink, but not overly creamy, taste it and make sure you are happy that the tomato-cheese balance is good. Serve as per step 4.
