Plump prawns in a herby tomato sauce, with hunks of salty feta make for a delicious meal over rice or orzo pasta. Sometimes I serve it with hot buttered egg noodles, salad, and a good bread to soak up bits of sauce. When I made it this week Jake and Hubs didn't say a word through the entire dinner-they were too busy eating!
Original recipe from The Easy Gourmet, published by Safeway Canada.
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, slivered
2 1/2 cups fresh Roma tomatoes, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 tsp sugar
1/2 cup dry white wine (you can substitute chicken broth)
1 1 /2 tsp oregano
salt and pepper to taste
2 Tbsp (approx) tomato paste
1 1/2 lbs (750 g) prawns, deveined and shelled (you can leave the tails on for show)
8 oz feta cheese, drained and crumbled
3 tbsp snipped fresh basil leaves
lemon wedges
Saute onion in olive oil until soft and translucent. Add garlic and continue to saute until pale golden. Increase the heat to high and add the tomatoes and sugar. Cook until the tomatoes release and then start to reabsorb their juices. Stir in the white wine, oregano, salt and pepper.
Cover skillet, turn down the heat to low, and simmer for about 25 minutes. The tomatoes should break down to create a thick sauce. I found it a bit runny so I took the lid off and continued to simmer it for about 5 minutes longer, adding the tomato paste and breaking up the bits of of tomato with a wooden spoon. It did come together and make a wonderfully rich tomato sauce.
Heat oven to 400 F. Pour sauce into a shallow, oiled baking dish. Arrange the prawns on top.
Sprinkle with crumbled feta. Bake in the center of the oven for about 10-12 minutes, just until prawns are cooked pink and the feta is beginning to melt. (**I find that I do need to stir it a bit so that all the prawns cook, and I almost always end up turning the broiler on and standing right by the stove to watch them cook...otherwise at 400F it takes MUCH longer then 10-12 minutes).
Remove from the oven and sprinkle with the fresh basil. Serve with hot orzo (rice shaped pasta). Yum! Serve with fresh lemon wedges to squeeze over top.
**To peel tomatoes: Fill a medium sized pot with water and bring to a boil. Drop the tomatoes in the boiling water and allow them to cook until the skin splits, then remove and plunge into cold water. The skin should them peel right off quite easily.
