a prawn mayonnaise meal sandwich is one of my all time favourites. So, rather than improve on a classic, i’m turning it on its head. This sandwich also contains prawns and mayonnaise, but not how you know it. This sandwich celebrates one of my all time favourite spanish tapas dishes: gambas pil pil. juicy king prawns in smoky paprika, chilli and garlic, with sweet flame-roasted peppers, padrons, shoe-string fries and saffron aioli.

INGREDIENTS

200g raw king prawns, peeled
4TBSP OLIVE OIL
2 garlic cloves, sliced
1 red chilli, finely sliced
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
juice of half a lemon
handful chopped parsley

2 potatoes (king EDWard or rooster), peeled and cut into matchsticks
aioli or garlic mayo1/2 tsp smoked paprika
3-4 strands saffron
2 Jarred red peppers
4 Padron peppers

Floury ciabatta roll
flaky SEA SALT

METHOD

1. Prepare your fries first, as these don’t need to be hot when you construct the sandwich. Finely slice or mandolin your potatoes to get them into to matchsticks.
2. Place the potato in a bowl of lukewarm water for 5 minutes to remove some of the starch, then pat dry with kitchen paper.
3. Heat some neutral oil in fryer or wok (I always use a wok because the oil pools in the base and you don’t waste too much). Heat the oil until it is very hot (I always throw in 1 strand of potato to check – it should start to sizzle and crisp up as soon as it touches the oil).
4. Fry your potatoes in batches, using a slotted spoon to move turn them and ensure they’re colouring evenly. This whole process shouldn’t take longer than a minute or two, providing the oil is hot enough. 
5. Remove your fries and place on some kitchen paper to soak up the excess oil, then transfer to a bowl and season with smoked paprika and salt.
6. You can cook your padron peppers in the same pan, just ensure that you dispose of the leftover oil first (ONLY ONCE COOL) and give the pan a wipe with some kitchen paper.
7. Cook the padron peppers over a high heat, tossing occasionally. They’re ready once the skin has started to blister, and they’ve visibly reduced in size and softened.
8. Next, prepare the saffron-infused aioli by soaking the threads of saffron in 1 tbsp boiling water until the water turns a deep orange. Pour this into your mayonnaise/aioli and stir to combine.
9. Finally, prepare your gambas pil pil. Do this last, so that the prawns are fresh and hot when you construct the sandwich. Pour the oil into an ovenproof dish, along with the sliced chilli and garlic. The dish needs to be big enough to hold the prawns.
10. Place the dish into the oven (around 200 degrees) for about 5 minutes, until the oil is very hot and the garlic and chilli have begun to colour and soften.
11. Remove the dish carefully before adding your prawns, paprika, a pinch of salt and pepper, then mix everything and return to the oven for a further 5 minutes until the prawns are pink and cooked through.
12. Remove and scatter parsley over the prawns, along with a good squeeze of lemon.
13. To construct, begin by drizzling a tbsp of the infused oil from the prawns over each half of your ciabatta roll. Then, place under the grill to toast.
14. spread the base with the saffron aioli, then layer up with your flame-roasted red peppers, blistered padrons, at least 6 of your gambas plus a good drizzle of the oil, and finally add a big handful of the shoestring fries. Place the lid on top and give the sandwich a little press to squidge it all together. ENJOY.