by Dorothy Skinner

Created on: November 22, 2007   Last Updated: August 13, 2010

To have friends round for dinner is a great idea, and the less time the cook spends in the kitchen the better. This sea-food recipe is simple to prepare, nutritious and absolutely wonderful to enjoy with friends.

You will need as many langoustines as your guests can eat. You can buy them live straight from the fish market, and cook them yourself, or freshly caught and cooked on the boat from a reputable fish supplier. To save time, the pre-cooked ones are fine. .

Pour a perfectly chilled Chateau Tracy 2004, a Pouilly Fume from the Loire. Experience the round, dry taste of elderflower and jasmine mingled with the sweetness of the langoustines to dance on your palette in a burst of sunshine. The rolling plumpness bursts over the flavours of the food like the Earth Mother brought to the table from the heart of the Loire Valley where they have been producing this wine since the fourteenth century.

It is the perfect partner for your sea-food and its wonderful fruity aftertaste will encourage you to call for another bottle long after the food has gone.

Ingredients

Fresh or pre-cooked langoustines( also known as Dublin Bay prawns, Norway lobster or scampi). You will need as many as your guests can eat, but allow at least six each.

If using fresh shellfish, you will need to cook them in boiling water.

1 large onion finely chopped

butter and olive oil

chopped parsley

grated lemon

500 mls fish stock

2 glasses of white white

black pepper

Method

Wash prawns or langoustines in cold water and if they are fresh clean them.

Saute the chopped onion in the butter and olive oil in a deep pan and when soft add the parsley, lemon rind, fish stock and two glasses of the wine you will be drinking.

Throw in the langoustines, and add freshly milled black pepper.

Heat thoroughly until the wine permeates the shellfish

Serve at once in the pan or a very large tureen placed in the centre of the table for everyone to help themselves with your favourite green salad dressed with a light dressing of olive oil, lemon juice and a touch of balsamic vinegar, and baskets of freshly baked bread for dipping in the soup

Don't forget the finger bowls for guest to clean their fingers as they eat the shellfish.

Enjoy

Learn more about this author, Dorothy Skinner.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.