Recipe: Spot prawns with gnocchi and carrot orange sauce

Chef Lisa Ahier of SoBo Restaurant shows us how to make spot prawns with gnocchi and carrot orange sauce.

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

Carrot and Orange Sauce:
4 cups Carrot Juice
1.5 cups Orange Juice
1/3 cup of White Wine Vinegar
1/3 cup Dry white wine
¾ cup whipping cream
6 tbsp cold butter, cut into small cubes

*Cook’s Note: Freshly squeezed carrot juice is great but there are also good bottled carrot juices on the market. I like Boathouse or Naked Juice. This recipe calls for spot prawns, but halibut, lingcod or even chicken works equally as well.

Gnocchi
5-6 medium russet potatoes
1 cup flour
2 egg yolks, lightly beaten
2 tbsp salt
1 tbsp olive oil

Prawns

3 Tbsp olive oil
24 spot prawns, peeled and deveined
Salt

Wilted Spinach

3 tbsp olive oil
1 lb spinach
2 tsp minced shallots
½ tsp Salt

In this recipe everything except the sauce is sautéed almost simultaneously at the end, and it all comes together very quickly. I tackle it by preparing the sauce and the gnocchi ahead of time (sometimes earlier in the day), Then, when I’m ready to serve, reheating the sauce and sautéing the gnocchi, prawns and spinach at the last minute.

Cooking procedure

Sauce

Combine the carrot juice, orange juice, vinegar and white wine in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan. You will need enough room in the pan for the mixture to get foamy as it heats and the volume to double. Bring to a boil, uncovered, whisking occasionally, until it has reduced to about 2 cups. This will take at least 30 minutes. The idea is to remove all the extra water from the juices.

In a separate pot, bring the cream just barely to a boil over medium-high heat. Turn down the heat to low and simmer uncovered until it has reduced by half. This should take about 10 minutes. Whisk the warm cream into the carrot reduction over low heat. Very slowly add the cold butter, a few cubes at a time to let the sauce emulsify, whisking as you add.

Set aside the sauce until you are ready to serve; you should refrigerate it if you will be longer than 2 hours. When you are ready to serve, warm the sauce slowly over low heat, while you finish the gnocchi and prepare the prawns and wilted spinach.

Gnocchi

Preheat the over to 400°F.

Bake the potatoes, uncovered, for 45 minutes or until soft all the way through. Remove from the oven and set aside until they are cool enough to handle.

Fill a large stock pot with very heavily salted water and bring it to a boil. Lightly oil a large baking sheet.

Scoop the potato flesh out of the potato skins and put it though a ricer or a food mill. You can mash by hand if you prefer but the potatoes will not be as light and fluffy. Transfer to a large mixing bowl.

Make a well in the potatoes and add half the flour and the egg yolks. Using a dough scraper (or the back of a knife) cut the flour and egg yolks into the potatoes until all the flour has been incorporated. Work quickly but gently to keep the potatoes warm and pliable. If the dough remains sticky, incorporate more flour, a little at a time, until it is the consistency to roll out smoothly. Stop adding flour before the dough becomes dry or flaky.

Using your hands, form the potato dough into a ball. Knead it a few times, then roll it into a rope about ¾-inch wide. Cut the dough into pieces about 1-inch long.

Working batches, put the gnocchi into the boiling water for about a minute, until they float. Using a slotted spoon, remove them from the water and set them on the prepared baking sheet to cool. Repeat with the remaining gnocchi. Set aside the gnocchi until you are ready to serve.

When ready to serve, heat a frying pan over medium-high heat, add 1 tbsp olive oil. Gently add enough gnocchi to fill about half the pan. It’s important to heat your pan enough and avoid overcrowding it. Otherwise, you will end up with mushy potato dumplings instead of light fluffy gnocchi.

Toss the gnocchi frequently and cook until hot and throughout and lightly golden brown. Repeat with the remaining gnocchi. Keep the gnocchi warm while you prepare the prawns and wilted spinach.

Prawns

Heat a heavy-bottomed frying pan over high heat and add 1 tbsp of the olive oil. Working in batches, gently place the prawns in the hot pan. Being careful not to overcrowd it. Season with salt to taste and sear for 30 seconds on each side or until pink and white. Do not overcook! Add more olive oil as needed to cook the remaining prawns.

Wilted Spinach

In a heavy-bottomed frying pan, heat the olive oil to the smoking point. Add the spinach all at once and start to toss immediately with tongs. Add the shallots and salt. The spinach will wilt very quickly, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and be ready to serve immediately.

Toss the gnocchi gently with the warm sauce and the prawns. Serve with the wilted spinach on top.

More Global BC recipes are available here