Prawns with Romesco sauce

Name: Prawns with Romesco sauce
Prep time: 11 min
Cook time: 19 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Spanish
Ingredients: 1 Red Pepper; 3 Large Garlic Clove; 1 large Red Chilli; 1 large Tomato; 10 Shelled Hazelnuts; 10 Almonds; 3 sprigs Parsley; 1 sliced Bread; 120ml Olive Oil; 2 tblsp Red Wine Vinegar; 400g Tiger Prawns

By The Spice & Simmer Kitchen · Published May 3, 2026

A one-pot Seafood recipe with Spanish flavors, built for busy weeknights when you want real food without a sink full of dishes. Comes together in roughly 48 minutes, serves about 4, and uses ingredients you can find at any normal grocery store. The technique is simple: build a base in your pot, layer in the main ingredients, simmer until everything has had time to talk to each other, and serve straight from the pan. If you're cooking for picky eaters, this one tends to land — the flavors are recognizable, the texture is comforting, and there's nothing weird hiding in the ingredient list. Perfect for the kind of evening where you want dinner on the table by 7pm and the kitchen empty by 7:30.

Ingredients

Makes 4 servings · 30 min total

1 Red Pepper
3 Large Garlic Clove
1 large Red Chilli
1 large Tomato
10 Shelled Hazelnuts
10 Almonds
3 sprigs Parsley
1 sliced Bread
120ml Olive Oil
2 tblsp Red Wine Vinegar
400g Tiger Prawns

Step-by-step instructions

Prepare ahead - halve the pepper lengthways and remove the seeds and stalk. Line a grill pan with foil and put the pepper halves, skin side up, on the grill pan with the whole garlic cloves, chilli and tomato. Grill for 2 minutes, turn the tomato, then grill for a further 2 minutes. Remove the tomato with a large spoon, then peel, quarter and remove the seeds. Then chop the tomato roughly.
Continue grilling the pepper, chilli and garlic for 4-5 minutes, until the pepper and chilli skins have blackened and the garlic is starting to soften (the garlic skin will start to split when it is ready). When cool enough to handle, peel and halve the chilli, and scrape out and discard the seeds. Peel the pepper and roughly chop both the pepper and chilli.
Spread nuts over the foil and grill until toasted. Finely chop the nuts and parsley in a food processor. Tip into a small bowl.
Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a frying pan, add the pepper, garlic and chilli and fry for 3 minutes. Tear up the bread and add to the pan, turning it in the oil until lightly browned. Pulse in food processor with the tomatoes, salt, vinegar and oil until roughly chopped. Tip into a bowl. Leave to cool and store in fridge for up to 3 days.
On the day add the nuts and parsley to the sauce and mix. Serve in a small bowl on a plate with the peeled prawns. Supply cocktail sticks for spearing the prawns.

Why this works on a weeknight

Prawns with Romesco sauce genuinely fits a 30-minute weeknight window, which is why it earned a spot in our Skillet & One-Pan collection. The technique is forgiving, the ingredient list is grocery-store standard, and the active cooking time is short enough that you can answer a text message in the middle without ruining dinner.

Cleanup notes

This is a single-pan recipe, so the cleanup is exactly one pan, one cutting board, and one knife. While the dish rests, fill the pan with hot soapy water — by the time you are done eating, the residue lifts off with a single pass of a sponge. Skip the steel wool on cast iron; a stiff brush and warm water are all you need to keep the seasoning intact.

Make-ahead and leftovers

Leftovers keep covered in the fridge for up to three days. Reheat in a dry pan over medium-low with a splash of water or stock to loosen the sauce. Prawns with Romesco sauce actually improves overnight as the flavors keep talking to each other, so doubling the recipe and packing tomorrow's lunch is a high-leverage weeknight move.

Filed under 🥘 Skillet & One-Pan Seafood Spanish ⚡ 30-Min Dinner