Ingredients
Prawns
- 500 graw prawns, peeled, tails on
Oil and garlic
- 150 mlgood olive oil
- 8 clovesgarlic, thinly sliced
- 2dried guindilla chillies, or 1 tsp chilli flakes
To finish
- 1 tbspchopped parsley
- a splash of dry sherry or brandy, optional
- 1 tspsweet pimentón, optional
- salt
To serve
- plenty of crusty bread
- and a cold dry sherry or beer
Equipment
- small earthenware cazuelas, or a small heavy pan
Directions
- Use a generous amount of good olive oil, far more than seems necessary for the quantity of prawns. The garlic-and-chilli-infused oil left in the dish is the point, and it is mopped up with bread until the dish is clean.
- Use a good olive oil, since its flavour is fully exposed here with nothing to hide behind. Slice the garlic thinly rather than chopping or crushing it. Now start the garlic in cold oil rather than hot.
- Put the sliced garlic and the chillies into the cold oil and bring them up to heat together. Starting cold lets the garlic infuse the oil gradually as the temperature rises, which extracts far more flavour.
- Bring it up over a medium heat and watch it constantly. It should sizzle gently rather than fiercely, and the garlic should turn pale gold over two or three minutes.
- Take it off the moment the garlic is pale gold, since it continues colouring in the residual heat. If it goes dark brown, throw it out and start again, since the bitterness carries through everything.
- Season them with salt beforehand rather than after. Add them to the hot infused oil in a single layer. Cook them for barely a minute on each side. They are done the moment they turn opaque and curl into a loose C shape, and that is genuinely a matter of ninety seconds.
- Add a splash of sherry if you are using it and let it bubble for a few seconds. Stir in the parsley and a pinch of pimentón off the heat, since paprika burns almost instantly. Now serve it immediately, in the dish it was cooked in if possible. Serve it with a great deal of bread, since the oil is as much the dish as the prawns.
Technique
- The garlic starts in cold oil so it infuses as it heats.
- The infused oil is the point, and it is mopped up with bread.
- Prawns take barely a minute a side.
Substitutions
- Chilli flakes in place of dried guindilla.
- Any raw prawn, though larger ones are more forgiving.
Variations
- With a splash of brandy, flamed briefly.
- Made with mushrooms, as champiñones al ajillo.
- With more chilli, for a fiercer version.
Frequently asked questions
What is Gambas al ajillo?
Gambas al ajillo is a snack from Spain: shrimp sizzled in garlic-chili olive oil.
How long does Gambas al ajillo take to make?
Gambas al ajillo takes 10 min of preparation and 8 min of cooking. The recipe makes 4 as a tapa. It is rated easy to make.
What can I substitute in Gambas al ajillo?
Yes, within limits. Chilli flakes in place of dried guindilla. Any raw prawn, though larger ones are more forgiving.
What is the most important thing to get right in Gambas al ajillo?
Use a generous amount of good olive oil, far more than seems necessary for the quantity of prawns. The garlic-and-chilli-infused oil left in the dish is the point, and it is mopped up with bread until the dish is clean.
