Southern Prawns and Grits

Southern Prawns and Grits
18th February, 2018

This may sound a bit strange but this dish of Prawns and Grits is perfectly suitable to be served at breakfast or for lunch which means it’s a perfect fit for a brunch. Anyway, if you can get large prawns in the UK; it’s worth it but I’ve refactored this recipe to cope with our traditional pitifully small prawns

In terms of grits for UK based people; you can use cornmeal or polenta instead as these are easier to find but you should read their instructions first

Ingredients

For the prawns/shrimp:

1 Tbsp olive oil

60g pancetta

1 onion, finely chopped

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

1 red pepper, diced

500g prawns/shrimp, defrosted or about 30 large prawns

1 tsp Cajun seasoning

50 mls water, divided

25g unsalted butter

For the grits:

250mls milk

1 Bay leaf

450mls water

1/4 tsp salt

200g grits or fine cornmeal or white polenta.

125g sharp cheddar cheese, grated

50g sliced spring onions

Method

Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan and then add in the pancetta and cook until browned

Now add the onion and red peppers and soften for about 5 minutes before adding in the garlic and cooking for 1 minute

Add the defrosted prawns/shrimp to the frying pan and sprinkle over the Cajun seasoning and cook these for about 2 minutes

Finally, add 50mls of water and start scraping the pan to loosen any browned bits because these are tasty

Remove the pan from heat and add the butter, stirring until melted

At this point you need to cover the prawn mixture and keep warm

Bring the milk, bay leaf, salt, water to a boil before reducing the heat

Gradually add cornmeal or white polenta and cook until thick, stirring constantly with a whisk which takes about 5/10 minutes. Don't forget to remove the bay leaf when done

Remove from heat and then add the grated cheese, stirring with a whisk until all the cheese melts

To serve, spoon the grits onto the plates, top with the shrimp mixture and decorate with the sliced spring onions