A Perfect Pantry

With Christmas just around the corner and the Party Season in full swing, it’s dishes like these that make celebrations so special. While prawns may be more expensive than you would normally budget for, you can find regular specials , so snap them up when you can and freeze them until you are ready to cook with them. Once you thaw them, cook them as soon as possible.

Kataifi pastry is a Greek speciality and you can find it in larger supermarkets in the freezer section near filo. It is the same consistency as filo pastry but shredded -  looks like a bunch of straw, but simply tease it out. A little goes a long way – one packet of pastry will do for 20 prawns.

KATAIFI WRAPPED PRAWNS WITH LEMON GARLIC BUTTER

Serves 4 as a main meal or 6 as an entree

INGREDIENTS

• 20 large green prawns
• 100g butter
• 5 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• Zest and juice of 2 lemons
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 350g pack Kataifi pastry
• A little oil spray

DIRECTIONS

1. To prepare the prawns, remove their heads and peel the shells away from the body, leaving the tail intact. Use a small sharp knife to slice along the back of each prawn, then de-vein them.
2. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Add the finely chopped garlic and  lemon zest and sauté for 2 minutes until fragrant. Add the lemon juice and season with a little salt and pepper. Pour half the garlic butter over the prawns and toss thoroughly to coat the. Set the remaining butter sauce aside in a small bowl, ready to serve.
3. Turn the air-chef on and preheat to 180°C. Line the base of the tray with a sheet of foil.
4. Remove the pastry from the bag and gently tease out the strands.
5. Remove a small bunch of about 1 tablespoons of pastry and lay it in a 15cm strand on the clean bench top. Place one butter and garlic-soaked prawn at one end of the pastry and roll it up to completely coat the prawn but leave the tail exposed. The buttery coating should help the pastry stick to the prawn. Repeat with remaining prawns and pastry.
6. Spray the kataifi-wrapped prawns with some oil spray. Place the prawns in the air-fryer basket and set the timer to 10 minutes. When the timer bell goes off, open the air-fryer, and use long-handled tongs to move the prawns around to expose the undercooked parts. Return the basket to the airfryer and cook for a further 5 minutes. Move the prawns around again and cook for a final 5 minutes. 
7. Serve the hot and crunchy prawns on a large platter with a few salad leaves and wedges of lemon or lime near by. Have the butter close by so that everyone can serve themselves. Serve at once.

Recipe created and shared by Sandra Reynolds

Sandra Reynolds has written over 1000 nutritious budget-friendly recipes for her blog The $120 Food Challenge, surviving unemployment payments and Aldi checkout lines along the way and turned personal adversity into a thriving blog.

Her first cookbook, The $120 Food Challengeis published by Penguin Viking and Sandra is now writing her second cookbook. She still shops at Aldi every week.