Yiayia Toula's Prawn Saganaki from Palaio Faliro

Ingredients

1kg whole shell-on jumbo King prawns
350g feta, cut into 1 cm thick slices
15g mint, leaves picked and roughly torn (Toula uses spearmint, but you can use peppermint too)
1 tsp cracked black pepper
4 tomatoes, sliced
100mL extra virgin olive oil
Crusty bread, to serve

Method

Preheat the oven to 180 C.

Gently peel the legs and shell from the prawns, leaving the tail and head intact (these have lots of flavour).

Devein the prawns by gently running a knife along the top of the prawn and pulling out the dark ‘string’. No need to go too deep for this; it’s just under the surface.

Layer the prawns in a deep baking dish.

Follow this with a layer of sliced feta (don’t worry if the slices break up), then the mint leaves.

Add the black pepper (Toula says there’s no need for salt, there’s enough in the feta).

Finally, add the sliced tomatoes, completely covering the mint leaves below so they don’t burn in the oven. Tuck the mint leaves behind the tomatoes if they are sticking out.

Drizzle over the olive oil and bake in the oven for 40 minutes until the tomatoes have broken down and become a bit saucy. If you don’t have super-ripe Mediterranean tomatoes, they may sit on top more, but don’t worry; it will still be delicious.

Serve hot with crusty bread for dipping.

Credits: Yiayia by Anastasia Miari, published by Hardie Grant Books. RRP $55.00.

Photo Credits: Marco Arguello