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Welcome to the second part of my Tostas-Series. Last time I brought you the recipe for some lovely chicken liver pâté toastas well knowing that chicken liver is not everyone cup of tea. So this week I have a real crowd pleaser for you: Gambas and aioli tostas. Crispy toasted baguette, topped with lemon and garlic aioli and some lovely king prawns.
I have been serving grilled king prawns alongside garlic aioli for years, but it took a trip to Galicia to realize how perfect this combination would work on a tosta. In a small tapas joint in Santiago de Compostela I first had a tosta like that and I was amazed at how perfect it was in its simplicity. King prawns and garlic are always a great match and if you add the tartness of the tomatoes, you have a small slice of heaven on a piece of bread.
Tostas you say?
If you’re thinking “Those look like crostinis and/or bruschettas to me!” you’re not mistaken. Tostas are the spanish version of those italian topped bread slices and often served as part of a tapas menu.
Gambas and aioli tostas
Crispy baguette slices with lemon garlic aioli, topped with king prawns and cherry tomatoes. A perfect addition to every spanish tapas spread.
Servings: 8 tostas
Ingredients
For the aioli
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 clove garlic finely chopped
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- olive oil
- salt
For the tostas
- 8 slices baguette
- 16 king prawns peeled, deveined
- 16 cherry tomatoes
- salt
- olive oil
Furthermore
- 8 small wooden skewers
Instructions
- First prepare the aioli. I always use an electric whisk but you could also use a stick blender or even whisk it by hand. You also get better results if you let the egg yolk come up to room temperature.
- In a bowl whisk up the egg yolk and add a little bit of olive oil while you whisk. Make sure to add just little drops in the beginning. Keep adding oil until the mixture starts to thicken a bit.
- Once it gets to that stage, you can add more olive oil in a thin stream while whisking.
- When the mayonnaise has the desired consistency, add the garlic, lemon juices and season with salt. Set aside.
- Gently toast the slices of baguettes. For large batches I like to do this in the oven under the broiler.
- Heat a large pan on medium to high heat. Spike two king prawns and two cherry tomatoes on each wooden skewer and salt generously.
- Add a splash of olive oil to the pan and fry the skewers on both sides until the prawns are just cooked through, around 2 minutes on each side.
- Spread around 1 tsp of aioli on each bread slice and top with a skewer. Serve hot.
1 comment
These look delicious! I love shrimp and aioli as well, yet would have never thought to combine them on toast. It seems so obvious now. I’ll definitely try this out!