Gamberi alla busara (prawns with cherry tomato sauce)

Name: Gamberi alla busara (prawns with cherry tomato sauce)
Prep time: 20 min
Total time: 20 min
Yield: Serves 2 (or 4 with bread or pasta)
Cuisine: Italian recipes
Ingredients: 2 tbsp olive oil; 12 large shell-on prawns; 4 garlic cloves, finely sliced; 1 red chilli, finely sliced; 500g cherry tomatoes, halved; 125ml dry white wine; Handful chopped parsley

By: Pollyanna Coupland
Food producer, delicious.

Published: 31 Aug 24
Updated: 24 Sep 24

Test kitchen approved

The joy of this dish – a classic of Venetian cuisine – comes in using your hands to eat the prawns. The prawn shells flavour the oil too, so don’t be tempted to use peeled! Serve with bread or as a sauce for pasta.

Discover all the good stuff Veneto has to offer in our food lover’s guide to the region – including an epic pasta recipe.

Serves 2 (or 4 with bread or pasta)
Hands-on time 20 min

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Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil
12 large shell-on prawns
4 garlic cloves, finely sliced
1 red chilli, finely sliced
500g cherry tomatoes, halved
125ml dry white wine
Handful chopped parsley

Method

Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a medium-high heat. Add the prawns and fry for a few minutes, tossing regularly. They shouldn’t be cooked through at this point; you’re just flavouring the oil. Lift the prawns onto a plate, leaving as much oil in the pan as you can.
Turn the heat down to medium, then add the garlic and chilli. Cook for 30 seconds, then add the tomatoes and wine. Turn the heat up to high and simmer for 10 minutes or until the tomatoes have collapsed and the sauce has reduced. Season with salt and pepper. Add the prawns, cover, then simmer for 5 minutes until the prawns are cooked through. Sprinkle with parsley to serve.

Recipe from September 2024 Issue

Nutrition

Nutrition: per serving

Calories: 242kcals
Fat: 8.6g f(1.3g saturated)
Protein: 27g
Carbohydrates: 5.8g (5.4g sugars)
Fibre: 2.4g
Salt: 0.5g

delicious. tips

Both Italy’s Veneto and Friuli-Venezia Giulia regions claim this fine dish as their own (although Veneto tends to win the argument). There’s also a Croatian version (škampi na buzaru) that uses langoustines or scampi instead of prawns. The ‘busara’ supposedly refers to the pot they’re cooked in.

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Gamberi alla busara (prawns with cherry tomato sauce)

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