Potted Prawns Recipe — Spiced Langostinos in Ghee

Four years in Grange-over-Sands before I moved to Andalucía. Long enough to know the grey-green water, the treacherous sands, and the tiny brown shrimp that Furness Fish at Flookburgh have been potting since long before Fortnum's made it fashionable. If you've read the Nearly Fortnum's post, you'll know the story. This potted prawns recipe follows the same tradition, the same technique, the same spiced-ghee logic — but made with langostinos from an Andalucían market rather than brown shrimp from the Cartmel Peninsula.

See also: Nearly Fortnum's Potted Mackerel and Potted Smoked Trout — Caraway, Dill & Lemon.

A word of explanation for British readers. Langostinos are large prawns — caught extensively along the Spanish coast and sold cooked and shell-on in every market worth visiting. They are not the small cold-water prawns of a prawn cocktail, and they are not scampi. Think of them as close cousins to Dublin Bay prawns, with a rich, slightly lobster-like sweetness that stands up very well to spiced butter. Or ghee, in my case.

I buy a couple of handfuls, cooked and shell-on. The tails go into the pot. The bodies — still full of flavour — go into pasta later in the week. Nothing wasted. It is a good system, and it makes the most of what is, in Spain, an everyday ingredient rather than a luxury one.

A Potted Prawns Recipe with Very Old Roots

The technique is straightforward and very old. Before refrigeration, cooks discovered that packing cooked seafood tightly into a ceramic pot and sealing it under clarified butter kept it fresh for weeks. The butter excluded the air; the spices — mace, nutmeg, cayenne — did their part too. Originally chosen for their antimicrobial properties as much as their flavour, they are now simply part of the taste of the thing. That is how most food history works. Necessity becomes tradition becomes recipe.

The Morecambe Bay version travelled from fishermen's tables to London high society via the railway boom of the late 19th century. Fresh catches could be transported quickly, and potted shrimp became a fixture at afternoon teas and gentlemen's clubs. Queen Elizabeth II counted potted shrimp on toast among her favourite things. Ian Fleming loved them — and, naturally, so did Bond.

Ghee, Parsley and the Casa Adora Version

I use bio ghee in place of clarified butter. It behaves identically, sets firm, seals the surface, and adds a faint nuttiness that suits the mace and cayenne well. Fresh parsley replaces the thyme — it is what grows at Casa Adora, and it works cleanly against the richness of the ghee. The result fills one 200ml Kadax jar — enough for a generous starter, served cold from the fridge with hot, crispy toast.

The Morecambe Bay original has been on royal tea tables and in Ian Fleming's novels. This version has been eaten on a patio in rural Jaén, in 41°C heat, with a cold beer alongside. Both are, in their own way, the correct setting.

Potted Prawns Recipe — Spiced Langostinos in Ghee

Makes one 200ml jar — serves 1 as a starter

Ingredients

• A couple of handfuls of cooked langostinos, shell-on (roughly 150–180g whole weight)
• 75g bio ghee
• 2 anchovy fillets, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp fresh parsley, finely chopped
• ¼ tsp lemon zest
• ⅛ tsp ground mace
• Pinch of cayenne pepper
• Small pinch of fine sea salt
• Black pepper, to taste
• Hot toast, to serve

Method

Prepare the langostinos. Peel the tails from your cooked langostinos and set aside. Keep the bodies and heads for pasta or a quick stock — too good to waste.

Melt the ghee. Warm the ghee gently in a small pan over a low heat until fully melted. Add the anchovies and stir until they dissolve into the ghee — about a minute.

Add the spices and herbs. Stir in the parsley, lemon zest, mace, cayenne, salt and a few grinds of black pepper.

Add the langostino tails. Add the tails to the spiced ghee and simmer gently for 3–4 minutes, turning once, until heated through. Low and slow — keeps them tender.

Pot and seal. Spoon the langostino tails into your Kadax jar, packing them in fairly snugly. Pour the spiced ghee over the top, making sure the tails are fully covered and sealed beneath the surface.

Chill. Leave to cool completely at room temperature, then refrigerate for at least 2 hours until the ghee has set firm.

Serve. Bring to the table cold, or leave at room temperature for 10 minutes first. Eat with hot, crispy toast.

Keeps 5–7 days in the fridge under the ghee seal.

This potted prawns recipe is featured in my Pâté & Rillettes Recipes, a growing collection of homemade pâtés, rillettes and potted dishes from France, Spain and beyond. It also features in my Fish & Seafood Recipes.
Find more recipes and food adventures here.
Wonky photos, proper food, genuine adventures — The Flexible Chef