Red Prawns with Meyer Lemon Gigante Beans

Grilled shrimp with Gigante Beans

Category
Dinner
Cuisine
Spanish
Serves
4-6
Time
45 minutes
From
Bobby Flay

shrimpbeanslemon

Adapted from Bobby Flay: Chapter One

Ingredients

  • ½ pound dried gigante beans, picked over and soaked overnight
  • 1 small onion, quartered
  • 1 carrot, cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 4 tablespoons finely chopped garlic (about 12 cloves)
  • 3 sprigs thyme
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 12 cups shellfish stock
  • Kosher salt
  • 4 tablespoons neutral oil, such as avocado or canola
  • 1 medium onion, finely chopped
  • 3 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1 cup white wine
  • 2 Meyer lemons
  • 2 plum tomatoes, seeded and finely diced
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 12 head-on red prawns (carabineros), shells split and deveined
  • Good-quality extra-virgin olive oil, such as Castillo de Tabernas, for finishing
  • Warm crusty bread, for serving

Instructions

  1. Drain the beans and place them in a large pot.
  2. Add the quartered onion, carrot, 2 tablespoons of the garlic, the thyme sprigs, bay leaf, and 6 cups of the stock.
  3. Add cold water as needed to cover the beans by 2 inches and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
  4. Reduce the heat to medium and gently simmer for 30 minutes, adding more water as needed to keep the beans just covered.
  5. Season the beans with 2 teaspoons salt and simmer until al dente, about 30 minutes more.
  6. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, heat 2 tablespoons of the neutral oil over medium-high heat.
  7. Add the chopped onion and cook until softened, about 2 minutes.
  8. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons garlic and cook until softened, about 1 minute. Add the tomato paste and stir and cook until caramelized, about 3 minutes.
  9. Pour in the white wine and stir, using a wooden spoon to scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the saucepan.
  10. Cook until reduced by half, about 4 minutes.
  11. Add the remaining 6 cups stock and cook until reduced by half, about 15 minutes.
  12. Transfer to a blender and blend until smooth. Wipe out the saucepan, then strain the liquid back into the saucepan, discarding the solids.
  13. Drain the beans, then pick out and discard the vegetables and aromatics.
  14. Add the beans to the saucepan with the strained reduction.
  15. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, then simmer for 20 minutes.
  16. Add the zest and juice of 1 Meyer lemon, as well as the diced tomato and thyme, and season with salt and pepper.
  17. Cover and place over low heat to keep warm.
  18. Heat a grill to high.
  19. Toss the prawns with the remaining 2 tablespoons neutral oil. Season with salt and pepper.
  20. Place the prawns on the hottest part of the grill, then grill until the shells and heads are slightly charred, about 2 minutes. Flip the prawns and grill on the other side until slightly charred, 2 minutes more.

It's always better to pull them off the grill when they're slightly under-they'll carry over to doneness.

Remove the prawns and transfer to a baking sheet. Allow to rest for 5 minutes.

Notes

  • use large/colossal shrimp instead of the red prawns
  • I usually use Better Than Bouillon Lobster Stock (paste)