Prawn Cocktail A La Delia Smith - cooking recipe

Ingredients

PRAWNS
2 lbs large shrimp, in their shells or 1 lb cooked and cleaned large shrimp
1 crisp-hearted lettuce, such as Cos
1 ounce rocket
1 ripe but firm avocado
cayenne pepper
1 whole lime, divided into 6 wedge-shaped sections
SAUCE
1/2 cup mayonnaise (or more if needed)
1 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
3 drops Tabasco sauce
2 tablespoons tomato ketchup (preferably organic)
1 teaspoon lime juice (more if needed.)

Preparation

PRAWNS:
The very best version of this is made with prawns (either fresh or frozen in their shells) that you have cooked yourself.
Failing that, buy the large cooked prawns in their shells, or if you can only get shelled prawns, get those.
To prepare them: if frozen put them in a colander and allow to defrost thoroughly at room temperature for about 1 hour.
After that, if using uncooked prawns, heat a large solid frying pan or wok and dry-fry the prawns for 4-5 minutes until the grey turns a vibrant pink.
As soon as they're cool, reserve 6 in their shells for a garnish and peel the remainder.
Then take a small sharp knife, make a cut along the back of each peeled prawn and remove any black thread.
Place them in a bowl, cover with film wrap and keep in the fridge until needed.
TO MAKE THE SAUCE::
Take mayonnaise and add it to the rest of the sauce ingredients.
Stir and taste to check the seasoning, then keep the sauce covered with film wrap in the refrigerator, until needed.
ASSEMBLY.
When you are ready to serve, shred the lettuce and rocket fairly finely and divide them between 6 stemmed glasses, then peel and chop the avocado into small dice and scatter this in each glass amongst the lettuce.
Top with the prawns and the sauce, sprinkle a dusting of cayenne pepper on top and garnish with 1 section of lime and 1 unpeeled prawn per glass.
Serve with brown bread and butter.