This recipe falls into the totally easy and magnificently impressive section. Three ingredients, 10 minutes tops of work and you have a starter that will knock the socks off your friends. If this is a good thing or a bad thing depends entirely on the foot hygiene level of your friends…

I made this in the camper van while under way in Portugal – see it’s so easy you can make it in a “live-in toilet” as some people rudely call mobile homes. The two other wonderful couples I mentioned in my last post, Gabi and Uwe, Anja and Micha, are all keen and excellent cooks, so we spent each evening preparing different dishes. Uwe made these deevine pancakes stuffed with spinach and served with a port and red wine reduction, and that in a camper van! Anja made a Vietnamese salad with a coriander/cilantro dressing that was to die for. Recipes will follow.

So not to be outdone, but also not to reduce my drinking time by spending hours slaving over a hot stove, I made my “piece de resistance”. It looks like you spent all afternoon in the kitchen rather than knocking back the lovely Spanish red wine which has just a hint of cinnamon.

I made this in America years ago, with the same results, only that I was drinking a well chilled Chardonnay. Oops, meant to say, that everyone loved it just as much there as on the banks of the delta in Portugal. In fact, people asked for the recipe, but I was too embarrassed to say little work it was…oh how the times have changed.

The Recipe
Per serving:

1 tomato
1 tbsp pesto, homemade or bought
6 prawns, peeled but with tail bit left on

METHOD:
1. Make the tomato baskets: Sit the tomato on a plate and cut a handle by making two slits to about halfway down either side of the green/brown top circle (where it was attached to the plant). Now make a horizontal cut on either side to meet the slits and remove the bits (eat immediately).
2. Cut away the tomato under “the handle”, being careful not to cut through the skin. Scoop out the pips and insides and drain a little.
3. Place a tablespoon of pesto in the opening and place the prawns with the tails facing outwards into the pesto. You are ready to serve.

The instructions are a little more complicated than the actual act so it’s probably best just to look at the photo and wing it! This is delicious and easy so give it a bash.