Prawn rissoles with sweet chilli sauce

Whilst for Aussies a rissole is a burger patty, in Africa it's a deep-fried pastry filled with meat or seafood. This Mozambican version is filled with fresh prawns, made for dipping in the homemade sweet chilli sauce.

Credit: Sarah Graham's Food Safari

• serves

  6

• prep

  15 minutes

• cook

  15 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 200 g prawns, peeled and de-veined, then roughly chopped
• 2 spring onions, finely chopped (or ¼ red onion)
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 chilli, de-seeded and finely chopped
• ⅓ cup cream
• 1 tbsp flour
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
• 1 tsp lemon zest
• salt and pepper to season

For the pastry

• 1 cup water
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1½ cups flour, sifted
• 1 egg, lightly beaten (to seal the pastry)
• ½ tsp salt
• extra flour to thicken the pastry if too wet

For baking

• 1 beaten egg
• 1 cup fresh bread crumbs
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
• salt and pepper, to season
• 50 g melted butter, to brush the pastries before baking

Sweet chilli sauce

• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 small onion or shallot, finely diced
• 4 chillis, sliced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• ¼ cup coconut sugar (or light brown sugar)
• ¼ cup apple juice
• juice of 1 lemon

Serves 6 as a snack.

Instructions

1. To make the prawn filling, over medium-high heat, fry the prawns in the butter and olive oil, along with the garlic and chilli. When the prawns are pink and cooked through, stir through the flour and cook for a minute, then add in the cream, parsley and lemon zest. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.

2. For the pastry, add the water, butter and salt to a small-medium pot over medium-high heat. When the butter has melted, add in the flour and whisk well until you have a smooth batter. Over low heat, continue stirring with a wooden spoon until thickened and the pastry starts to pull away from the sides of the pot into a smooth dough.

3. Set aside to cool and then divide into 3-4 cm rounds of dough and roll out to 2 mm thick on a lightly floured surface.

4. Cut out circles (roughly 6.5 cm in diameter), add a dollop of prawn mixture to the centre and fold into a semi circle, sealing with a little beaten egg.

5. Pre-heat the oven to 190ºC.

6. Brush the rissoles with a little melted butter, then sprinkle over the herbed bread crumbs and place onto a lightly greased baking tray. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until golden and fragrant OR shallow fry until golden and cooked through.

7. Remove and set aside to cool.

8. To make the sweet chilli sauce, heat the butter in a small saucepan and then add in the onion and cook until softened, about 10-20 minutes.

9. Add in the chilli and garlic and cook for another 2 minutes, then add in the remaining ingredients and simmer until syrupy. Adjust and season to taste.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.