James Martin: The Spain attraction

Name: Valencia Beans and Red Prawns
Yield: 2 servings

Celebrity chef James Martin shares his recipes for Valencian Beans and Prawns and Creme Caramel with Spiced Seville Oranges.

Image credit: Dan Jones

By James Martin | Published - 15 Jul 2024

Valencia Beans and Red Prawns

Located on the east coast, the 2,000-year-old city of Valencia boasts wide sandy beaches, striking architecture, a buzzing food scene and culture. It has its own language (a dialect of Catalan) and unique cuisine, with a focus on rice, seafood and meat.

This dish showcases red prawns on a bed of white beans and vegetables.

Serves

Ingredients

75ml olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 onion, diced
¼ leek, diced
½ carrot, peeled and diced
¼ green pepper, cored, deseeded and diced
3 bay leaves
2 whole smoked chilli peppers (or a pinch of chilli flakes)
300g cooked butter beans
splash of white wine
small bunch of flat-leaf parsley, chopped
8 red prawns, split lengthways
sea salt

Method

Heat a medium paella pan and, when hot, add the oil, then add the garlic, all the vegetables, the bay leaves and the smoked peppers. Cook for 2-3 minutes, then stir in the beans, 50ml water and the wine and cook for 3-4 minutes. Season with salt and finish with the parsley.
Meanwhile, pop the prawns on to the barbecue, drizzle with oil and season with salt, then cook for 2-3 minutes until charred, turning once or twice. Alternatively, grill on high for 3-4 minutes.
To serve, remove the smoked peppers (if using) from the beans and then pile the prawns on top of the beans and drizzle with extra olive oil if desired.

Notes

If you want to use a barbecue, heat a barbecue until hot and the coals are white.

Book cover for James Martin's Spanish Adventure recipe book

Recipe extracted from James Martin’s Spanish Adventure (Quadrille), RRP £27, out now

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To complement this dish, why not try James Martin's Spiced Seville Oranges with Crème Caramel

Written by: James Martin

James Martin is a chef, TV presenter and host of James Martin’s Saturday Morning certainly knows his dairy. His latest book Cheese has 100 recipes which make the most of the UK’s favourite ingredient.

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