Spicy prawns, asparagus and jewelled rice

Had some filo pastry in the fridge left over from a bit of experimenting the other day and decided to have a go at making edible bowls to serve spicy prawns in.  It worked very well and the crunch of the pastry was a lovely texture against an otherwise quite soft dish.

I made the bowls by laying half a sheet of pastry in a small pudding dish which had been lightly brushed with olive oil.  The pastry was gently pressed into the dish and the excess was randomly gathered up round the rim so that the uneven edge would catch to different degrees when cooked in the oven.  I then popped a couple of small squares into the bottom of the dish to make a well sealed base.  A little olive oil was dabbed in between layers and more oil was dabbed around the rim.  Placed on a baking sheet and in a pre-heated 180* oven for about 8 minutes until nice and crispy.

Once cool I gently prised the pastry out of the dishes and set aside.

The prawns were marinated in olive oil, loads of garlic, ginger, tomato puree, coriander paste and chilli and then stir fried in a little oil with more garlic, chilli and some quartered baby plum tomatoes that were lurking in the fridge.  Just before serving I added a couple of finely sliced sring onions and a handful of chopped coriander.

The jewelled rice I've mentioned earlier in the blog but it's pretty well made up as I go; using any odds and sods in the fridge.

The asparagus was placed into boiling salted water for a couple of minutes only so as to retain a good bit of crunch.  The woody bits cut off from the base have been frozen and, with previously frozen off-cuts, will be used to make soup for the aged relatives tomorrow.