King prawns with fennel and garlic

SERVES 8 PREP AND COOK TIME 30 MINUTES

16 extra-large green king prawns

2 medium (600g) fennel bulbs

½ cup (125ml) verjuice

1 cup (250ml) extra virgin olive oil

2 fresh bay leaves

200g unsalted butter

1 bulb (60g) garlic, peeled and thinly sliced

¼ cup flat-leaf parsley leaves lemon wedges, for serving

1 Peel and devein the prawns, keeping the head and tail intact.

2 Trim the fronds from the fennel bulbs and cut into medium size wedges. Place the verjuice, ¾ of the olive oil and the bay leaves into a medium frypan. Cook over medium heat and bring to a gentle simmer. Add the fennel wedges to the pan, cover loosely and cook for 15 minutes or until tender. Remove fennel from the pan; reserve the liquid.

3 Place a large non-stick frypan over a high heat; add ½ of the butter; once it starts to turn nut brown add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to stop the butter from burning. Add the fennel wedges to the pan and cook for 2 to 3 minutes on each side or until caramelised, remove to a serving platter. Cover to keep warm.

4 Clean the frypan and place back over the high heat, add the remaining butter; once the butter has turned nut brown add in remaining olive oil to stop the butter from burning. Add the prawns, cook for 3 minutes.

Turn the prawns and add the sliced garlic, cook for a further 3 minutes or until prawns are almost cooked. Place prawns onto the platter with the fennel, drizzle over pan juices and parsley. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper.

5 Serve prawns and fennel with lemon wedges.

Not suitable to freeze or microwave.