Pierre Dillenburg’s Prawn Gratin

This prawn gratin by Pierre Dillenburg is a classic recipe from the Kichechef cookbooks of the 90s.

For my Anne’s Retro Kitchen series on RTL, I’m recreating these recipes in my own kitchen exactly as they were — and seeing if they still hold up today.

In 1998, Pierre Dillenburg made his favourite dinner party dish on TV – a retro prawn gratin with boozy tomato sauce and creamy bechamel. It might sound slightly strange, but it’s very much a product of the 90s. Will it still work today?

Watch me (and Pierre Dillenburg) make this recipe here on RTL Play.

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Ingredients

3 carrots
500g mushrooms
60g butter
2 shallots, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, crushed
A handful of parsley
½ tube tomato paste
150ml white wine
500g defrosted and deveined scampi
80ml Calvados
A dash of Cognac
2 tbsp ketchup

For the béchamel:
45g butter
3 tbsp flour
500ml full-fat milk
3 tbsp sour cream
25g parmesan, grated

Method

Serves 6

Peel the carrots and cut into ½ cm thick slices, preferably with a mandolin. Set aside.

Cut the mushrooms into thin slices and set aside.

Melt 30g butter in a medium saucepan and fry the shallots and garlic with a pinch of salt for 2 minutes. Add the carrots, cover with a lid and cook for 10 minutess over a low heat, stirring from time to time.

Meanwhile, melt the remaining 30g butter in a large frying pan and fry the mushrooms with a pinch of salt until all the liquid has evaporated.
Make the bechamel in a second medium saucepan: melt the butter, add the flour and fry for a couple of minutes, until it starts to turn golden and fragrant. Add the milk and a pinch of salt while stirring and cook for a minute or so, so that it thickens and you get a smooth sauce. Stir through the sour cream and the parmesan and season with more salt if needed. Set aside.
After 10 minutes, add the white wine to the carrots, followed by the parlsey and tomato paste and cook for 5 minutes.

After 5 minutes, add the Calvados, bring to the boil and flambé.

Add the scampi, ketchup, salt, pepper and 50ml water. Cook for 4 minutes until the scampi are almost done, then add a dash of cognac and cook for another minute.

Preheat the oven to 180°C fan.

Put the scampi into a gratin dish, top with the mushrooms and finish with the bechamel.