One must have a lemon tree or some harmonious acquaintance with someone who has a lemon tree, know a florist or a fruit seller who can procure untreated lemon leaves, or one can let go the idea of the lemon leaves and trump up alternate ones, such as those pulled from a grapevine or a chestnut tree. Lacking all of these, one must know how wonderful the dish will be with no leaves at all, just for grilling the fat prawns, beheaded but with their tails intact, over a good wood fire, then heaving them, all hot and sputtering, into an anise-perfumed bath. Though the lemon leaves, if they’re good and fresh, do add some flavor and keep the prawns moist during the roast, they are, in the end, only a pretty and clever sort of packaging.
Recipe information
Yield
serves 6 as an antipasto
Ingredients
The Prawns
The Lemon-Anise Oil
Preparation
The Prawns
Step 1
Relieve the prawns of their shells, peeling them away, leaving the tail with its bit of shell intact and pulling out the veins from the head end, rather than slitting the prawns down their backs. Place the prawns in a large bowl.
Step 2
Blend the olive oil, lemon juice and zest, sea salt, and aniseeds and pour over the prawns, rubbing the mixture well into each of them.
Step 3
Cover the prawns, letting them rest while you build a wood fire. If using the leaves, place 2 prawns on each leaf and, depending on the size of the leaf, either fold it over the prawns, securing it with a toothpick, or place another leaf on top of the prawns, again securing one leaf to the other with toothpicks. Place the packages on a grill over the fire and roast them for 2 minutes or less to the side, depending on their size.
Step 4
If you are not using leaves, simply skewer the prawns, 2 or 3 to the stem, and roast them for a minute or so on each side, letting their edges char. In this case, immediately position the prawns, skewers and all, on a warmed, deep platter over which the warm, perfumed oil has been poured, presenting them at once.
Step 5
If you’ve used the leaves, pile the roasted bundles onto a warm platter, passing them about, either already having set a small pitcher of the perfumed oil at each place or sending a larger one round the table.
The Lemon-Anise Oil
Step 6
In a small saucepan, heat the olive oil nearly to a boil, remove it from the flame and add the remaining ingredients. Cover the pan and permit the mixture to steep for 1/2 hour. Gently reheat the perfumed oil over the fire while roasting the prawns. It should be very warm.
