Lightly fried prawns with limoncello sauce are the perfect way to bring back sunshine and summer into your kitchen. This dish is easy and quick to make, and can be served as an appetizer, snack or a main dish served with rice.
If you follow me on Instagram, you’ll know I recently got married in sunny Capri Island. This part of Italy is well known for their fragrant and sweet lemons, so it’s no surprise that limoncello is the main drink on this island. It’s like a crucial part of the dinner ritual – you have antipasti, then primi piatti, secondi and finish everything with a shot of yellow, sweet limoncello. La dolce vita.
Now, I’m not telling you to finish all your dinners with a shot of liqueur, however you can incorporate this amazing drink into your everyday dishes and prawns with Limoncello sauce does exactly like that.
When you think of what actually makes limoncello, it’s just lemons and alcohol… and both these flavours are perfect companions for seafood. So, it’s no surprise that I had to put them together and create something simple and delicious.
I don’t want to brag, but I really succeeded…
How to Make Prawns with Limoncello Sauce
It won’t take you longer than 10 minutes to make this dish. Basically, you just need your prawns ready, chop the ingredients and simmer everything in a lovely and fragrant limoncello sauce.
- Prepare your prawns. If you’re using frozen prawns, defrost them. If you’re using fresh prawns, de-vein and peel them.
- Get ready. Preheat your pan with a knob of butter.
- Add the crushed garlic together with the prawns and gently fry them together for a couple of minutes.
- Pour in the limoncello and let the alcohol evaporate.
- Season the dish to your liking and finish it with some fresh parsley.
- That’s it! Serve it with warm bread or with a wrap.
Recipe Variations – Prawns with Limoncello Sauce
I’m sharing the basic recipe with you, and you can then make it as fancy and interesting as you want… You can add different ingredients (like chilli) or make it more vegetable heavy (adding broccoli, peppers etc.). You can also make it as a main dish and serve it with a bowl of rice or toss it with freshly cooked pasta. I’m telling you – you have limitless opportunities.
- Make it spicier – add some fresh chillies to give a little bit of kick to this dish, or you can add some chilli sauce for even more flavour.
- Add more veggies to your dish – I kept this recipe very simple, but you can improvise more. Add some broccoli, bell peppers, or make it autumnal with a couple of slices of pumpkin or squash.
- Serve the dish with pasta – when I made this recipe, I wanted it to be a quick snack, but you can use it as a sauce for your amazing fresh pasta. Just boil the noodles and mix everything together.
Also, if you are looking for quick snack ideas, check out these recipes:
Whipped Ricotta Spread with Roasted Cherries
Halloumi Wraps with Mango Salsa
Anchovy Dip With Roasted Peppers
Lastly, if you are looking for good Limoncello, try out these brands:
Villa Massa
Limoncello by Assuntina di Capri
Recipe
Ingredients
250g prawns
50g butter
3 garlic cloves
50ml limoncello liquor
Fresh parsley
Salt and pepper
Method
- Preheat the pan and the butter on medium heat.
- After the butter melts, add the prawns together with the crushed garlic. Cook everything together for 2 minutes.
- Add the limoncello liquor and let the alcohol evaporate (this might take around 2-3 minutes).
- Season to your liking and finish the dish with finely chopped fresh parsley.
- Serve the dish with toasted baguette or ciabatta bread slices.
