Wild garlic prawns pil pil
By:
Emily Gussin
Food producer and sustainability lead, delicious.
- Published: 3 Apr 25
- Updated: 3 Apr 25
Sizzling Spanish baked prawns are given a seasonal spring twist with wild garlic and chilli in this take on a classic gambas pil pil recipe.
- Traditional tapas: Gambas pil pil is a popular tapas dish of garlicky prawns. ‘Pil pil’ is a Basque name for the cooking sauce of olive oil, garlic and chilli.
- Why it’s so good: Using wild garlic gives this Spanish classic a fresh spring makeover. Wild garlic has an aromatic taste that mellows as it cooks.
- When to make it: Wild garlic appears as early as late February (depending on the weather) but reaches its peak in early April when it may be flowering.
Discover more enchanting wild garlic recipes.
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Serves 4 as a starter or part of a tapas spread
-
Prep time 5 min. Cook time 10 min
Ingredients
- 150ml olive oil
- 4 garlic cloves, sliced
- 1 tsp chilli flakes
- 800g large raw peeled prawns, peeled but heads left intact (if you like)
- 10g wild garlic, finely chopped, plus extra leaves to serve
- Crusty bread to serve
Method
- Heat the oven to 220°C/ 200°C fan/gas 7. Put the oil, garlic and chilli flakes in an oven dish just large enough to fit the prawns in one layer (but don’t add them yet). Bake for 5 minutes until the oil is hot, sizzling and aromatic.
- Stir in the prawns and return to the oven for 3 minutes, then stir in the wild garlic and cook for 1 minute until the prawns have cooked through and are pink. Serve with crusty bread for mopping up the juices.
- Recipe from April 2025 Issue
Nutrition
- Calories
- 214kcals
- Fat
- 7.8g (1.3g saturated)
- Protein
- 35g
- Carbohydrates
- 0.5g (0.5g sugars)
- Fibre
- 0g
- Salt
- 1.1g
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