With New Year's eve approaching, we suggest a mouth watering chickpeas and prawns dish which is great as an antipasto or for Mediterranean finger food to serve during a festive end-of-the-year party.
Ingredients:
(serves ten portions)
*300g chickpea flour;
*1 litre vegetable stock;
*Salt and pepper;
*Drizzling of extra-virgin olive oil;
*10 king prawns.
Preparation
Bring vegetable stock to the boil in a large pan and gradually add the chickpea flour, stirring continuously with a whisk to avoid the formation of lumps.
Add a swirl of olive oil and season to taste, mixing well. Grease a small ovenproof baking pan with olive oil and pour in the chickpea polenta. Bake in an oven preheated to 180ºC for 25 minutes, then leave to cool.
Once cool, cut polenta into small squares or diamond shapes. Keep refrigerated until almost ready to use, but remember to bring polenta to room temperature an hour before serving. (If you like, you can brush polenta crostini with a little olive oil and grill for a couple of minutes just before serving.)
Place the polenta crostini on the serving platter. Peel and de-vein king prawns. Insert a small skewer or herb sprig through prawn. Heat a tiny drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil in a non stick pan and flash cook the prawns on both sides.
Don’t overcook as this causes them to become rubbery. As soon as they become opaque, they are cooked. Secure the prawns on top of the polenta crostini and serve.
You can prepare the polenta base a few hours in advance, or even the night before.
You could use regular polenta and vary the toppings according to personal preference, perhaps marinating the prawns for an hour or so in herbed olive oil for a more pronounced aromatic flavour.
Buon Appetito!
