These prawns are a must have on you Christmas table. The brown butter and honey flavours make them taste so special and indulgent. Especially if you use an amazing honey like Comvita’s Manuka Honey.

The smell and taste of Mānuka Honey takes me back to my childhood in New Zealand. It is the honey I grew up eating and tastes so different to the super runny clearer kind. With all the memories the taste brings with it, making it part of my Christmas celebrations seems only fitting!

Also, prawns are a must on Christmas Day in Australia! Dressing them up in a delicious sauce makes them taste that much more special. And the red and green flecks in this dish with a golden drizzle of honey will have your table looking oh so festive.

You’ll be wanting to serve these throughout the year and they’re perfect with either some baguette to swipe through that sauce or rice and greens.

I was so excited to create this recipe using Comvita UMF 5+ Mānuka Honey. You can read more about the UMF rating system here, but both are rating systems that help consumers identify the potency of the honey you’re using. Not all Mānuka honey is the same. This recipe uses quite a bit of honey so I mixed Comvita UMF 5+ Mānuka Honey with Comvita MGO Manuka Blend honey.

The key difference when it comes to using these products is that Comvita MGO 30+ Mānuka Blend Honey is an “everyday” product and can be used in cooking, baking, as a sweetener and in recipes that require larger quantities of honey, like this one. It’s perfect for everyday use. Whereas, Comvita UMF™ 5+ Mānuka Honey is a “mid-range” product for smoothies, tonics and teas (honey, lemon and ginger tea is the best!) as well as to finish of recipes like this one with a little drizzle. I added 1/2 Tablespoon into the recipe because it’s Christmas, and the flavour is so good. Comvita is offering 30% off all UMF 5+ Mānuka Honey sizes for the month of December and you can check them out here.

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 kg prawns, weighed whole

50g butter

2.5 Tbs honey (2 Tbs Comvita MGO Mānuka Honey+ .5 Tbs Comvita UMF 5+ Mānuka Honey)

4 cloves garlic, crished

1 red chilli

1/4 cup finely chopped chives

1/2 tsp lemon zest

1 tsp salt

1 Tbs lemon juice + extra lemon for serving

1 Tbs extra virgin olive oil + extra for cooking

Extra lemon zest and salt flakes for serving.

Directions

Shell and devein prawns. Slicing them down the back do they curl up as they cook.

Place butter in a small saucepan, melt and continue cooking until it smells nutty and the milk solids have turned brown. Remove from heat and allow to cool for 5 minutes.

Cut the chilli in half. Finely chop 1 half and finely sliced the other.

Mix together the garlic, finely chopped chilli, all but 1 Tbs of chives, honey, lemon zest, salt and oil. Then slowly stir in the brown butter.

Pour half this mix over the prawns and toss to coat. Set aside to marinade for at least ten minutes.

Add the lemon juice to remaining marinade.

Mix together 1 tsp each of lemon zest and salt flakes and set aside with the sliced chilli and remaining chopped chives. This will be used to garnish.

Heat a large pan on medium heat add a drizzle of oil. Once hot add the prawns in batches. Cooking for 1 minute or 2 each side, they should be golden brown. Once cooked add all the prawns back to the pan and pour over remaining sauce. Toss to coat, the sauce should quickly caramelise.

Remove from the heat and serve scattered in your prepared garnish. Drizzle with extra honey.

These are perfect as part of a shared celebratory meal or any time with rice and greens.

HH. x