Pretty & Practical Pots with a Little Bit of Prawn Cassoulet
This weekend I had two boxes delivered by my friendly delivery person.
I’m always excited when I get parcels, they’re usually full of great things.
Food or drink sent to me by my food or drink producer clients for me to develop some tasty recipes for them.
Not this time.
This time, what was inside wasn’t a surprise, I knew they were coming and for certain I was so very excited to have them delivered.
There is this amazing potter, Linda Bloomfield, who has trusted me enough to send me some of her manufactured pots.
I think, in official terms, this is called a collaboration.
So, my very first ceramic collaboration with an amazing potter.
What does this mean for me?
Well, it means I get to use Linda’s plates and pots for the photos I take when I’ve new recipes for my other clients, and as long as I tell people who’s plates they are, well, you get the picture.
Let me show you some of the beautiful pots.
Linda Bloomfield manufactured pots. So pretty
The manufactured pots, the ones I’m lucky enough to have in my possession, are not just beautiful but priced so everyone can afford them too.
I’m not going to share what the lovely Mr G said when the two boxes of crockery turned up.
Or his face when I started to unpack and pulled out plate after plate.
I’m not even going to share with you what the lovely Mr G did for the next three hours while I took pictures and tried to find space in a cupboard for all the pretty plates.
Prawn cassoulet is one of the lovely Mr Gs favourite Saturday night dishes.
I think it’s dunking the crusty bread into the sauce he likes most.
So, I’m not going to tell you what he said when I made prawn cassoulet on Saturday night, serving it in two of the new bowls from Linda Bloomfield, and made him wait until I’d taken a few snaps.
Go on, give it a go
Enjoy your sweet life
Prawn Cassoulet
Prawn cassoulet. Looking pretty in Linda Bloomfield manufactured bowls.
What You Need
20-30 -Fresh or Frozen Large Raw Prawns – peeled, cleaned & de-veined
3 large Shallots – finely chopped
Handful - Mix of green & Black Olives – Roughly Chopped
4 large Cloves of Fresh Garlic – roughly chopped
3 large bunches of Mixed Fresh Herbs – Finley Chopped- See Tip Box
3 large Fresh Tomatoes – roughly chopped but don’t lose the juices – See Tip Box
1 Tin White Beans - well drained & washed – See Tip Box
Approximately ½ glass of White Wine – See Tip Box
1 tablespoon Olive oil
2 teaspoons Paprika
1 tablespoons tomato puree
Fresh Ground Black Pepper
Maldon Salt – To Taste – See Tip Box
Bread for Dunking
Prawn cassoulet in some of Linda Bloomfield blue manufactured pots . Perfect size
How It’s Done
Heat the olive oil on a medium heat and cook the shallots slowly until they are transparent
Add the chopped garlic and cook for 2 minutes still on a low heat.
Add the tomatoes, tomato puree, herbs, olives, white wine, beans, paprika, salt & pepper and mix together.
Add a lid to the pot and cook the sauce slowly, on the low heat, don’t let it boil, for about 20 minutes.
If it’s a little too reduced, add a 2-3 tablespoons more white wine and cook for another couple of minutes to burn off the alcohol.
Add the prawns to the pot.
Stir very gently to cover them with the sauce, replace the lid and cook on the low heat for 15 minutes or until the prawns are cooked all the way though. – See Tip Box
Give it a taste- You might want to add more paprika or salt and pepper.
Serve hot and with big hunks of crusty bread.
Big hunks of bread. You need these for all that sauce - Crockery by Linda Bloomfield
Tip Box
Fresh Herbs- Fresh herbs are the only way to go with this dish and the more the tastier. I used big bunches of Fresh parsley, fresh coriander and fresh basil (with a few sage leaves thrown in, because I had some left over from a previous dish). Go crazy.
White Beans – I had a tin of Cannellini beans in my pantry. But I’ve made this dish before with other beans. Butter beans are good in this too, and even kidney beans taste good.
Tomatoes – If you’ve not got any large tomatoes, use small ones (use what you have). When you’re chopping them, try to collect as much of the juice as possible for the dish, the more the better.
White wine – a) Because this is a favourite quick dish for the lovely Mr G, I’ve made this dish many times and used many ”beverages”. Don’t have white wine? Use your favourite gin. No gin? Use vegetable stock.
b) If more than a half glass goes in, don’t panic, it’s going to be reduced anyway.
Salt – Only add a little salt at this stage. You can always add mote later when you start tasting the sauce.
Prawns- Keep a watch on the prawns. Don’t let them over cook or they will go rubbery instead of juicy. Make sure that they are cooked all the way through before eating.
I love Linda Bloomfield manufactured crockery. Go check her out.
