These BBQ butterflied prawns are charred to perfection and doused in the most decadently delicious garlic confit butter. They are super easy to make, a crowd pleaser and the perfect seafood addition at your next BBQ or Christmas lunch.
Garlic Confit Butter Butterflied BBQ Prawns
You should all know by now that I love to cook with garlic confit in as many ways possible! This garlic confit butter is the perfect addition to these butterflied BBQ prawns. It’s made using Westgold’s salted butter, 20 garlic confit cloves, chilli flakes and anchovies. The anchovies create a beautiful rich umami flavour that brings out the saltiness in the prawns. When drizzled over the charred BBQ prawns ,the garlic confit butter creates a meal that will melt in your mouth. If you’re Australian like me, no Christmas lunch is ever complete without prawns. These BBQ prawns will make the perfect addition on your Christmas lunch menu!
Throw Some Shrimp on the Barbie
This has become a common saying associated with Australian yet funnily enough, we don’t say this at all! Our word for shrimp is actually prawns. And we call the barbie, the BBQ. BBQ prawns are a very iconic Australian meal. We love to throw meat and seafood on the BBQ for a Sunday family lunch. It works well with our hot and humid climate and embedded deep into our culture. So I thought why not jazz up the regular BBQ prawn with a garlic confit butter? I can guarantee you that your guests will be licking the prawn shells clean to get every last drop of this delicious butter.
How to butterfly a prawn
Butterflying a prawn may sound a little intimidating but if you follow these steps, you will be butterflying prawns with ease!
Use a serrated knife – the best knife to use when butterflying a prawn is one with a serrated edge. It will help give you grip and also be able to slice into the hard shell of the prawn.
Follow the backbone – lay your prawn on its side and grasp it with one hand. Use the other hand to push the knife into the backbone of the prawn. Apply a fair bit of pressure to cut throw but make sure you don’t cut all the way through! You want to expose the flesh while still keeping the prawn intact.
Split the backbone open – flip the prawn over and push it down onto your chopping board to expose as much flesh as possible.
Cut into the head – Most of the flavour lives inside the head of the prawn head and while it may sound a little off-putting, you want to expose some of the prawns “head guts”. I am sure there is a more elegant way to say that but this is what I like to call it! When your prawn hits the BBQ, its those head guts that will caramelise and make the most delicious flavour!
Garlic confit
Confit is a French cooking technique where something is cooked in lots of fat at a low heat and for a very long time. You’re probably most familiar with duck confit. While duck confit is made by slow cooking the duck in its own fat, garlic confit is made with butter or, my personal preference, a high quality extra virgin olive oil. You can use the garlic confit in almost anything from a pasta sauce, dips such as hummus, spreads on toast or sandwiches to the base of a comforting soup and salad dressing. I have used it here to make the most delicious compound butter. Read more about garlic confit here.
View more of my seafood recipes
Slow roasted olive oil and citrus salmon
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This recipe is sponsored by our friends at Westgold butter.
Garlic Confit Butter BBQ Butterflied Prawns
Ingredients
- 500 g prawns Tiger or large prawns in shell
- 250 g Westgold salted butter at room temp
- 20 garlic confit cloves
- 1 tsp dried chili flakes
- 6 anchovy fillets
- pinch of salt
- 1 tbsp finely diced fresh parsley
Instructions
- Begin by butterflying your prawns. Using a serrated knife, cut down the backbone of the prawn ensuring you keep the tail and head intact. Remove the vein from the spine and press the prawns flat to expose the flesh as much as possible. Lightly season with salt and set to the side.
- In a food processor, combine the butter, garlic confit cloves, chilli flakes and anchovy fillets and pinch of salt. Blend until all ingredients are well combined. Brush the flesh of the prawns with the garlic confit butter. You will have left over butter that we will use as a dipping sauce.
- Ignite the BBQ and set the temperature to high on the grill side. Leave the lid closed to allow the temperature to reach 200 degrees celsius.
- Open the lid and place the prawns flesh side down onto the grill side so it cooks on direct heat. Close the lid and leave to cook on high for 2 minutes or until their flesh has turned pink and they are slightly charred.
- Using metal tongs, flip the prawns over and close the lid. Leave to grill for an additional 1 - 2 minutes. Remove the prawns from the BBQ and leave to rest.
- While the prawns are resting, melt the remaining butter until bubbling and frothy. Add the parsley in at the end and stir though. Pour 2 tablespoons of the garlic butter sauce over the prawns and the remaining into a small dipping dish. Peel the prawns and dip into the sauce.
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