Grilled prawn scampi with rich tomato sauce seafood delight

Look, I’m going to be honest with you—grilled prawn scampi sounds fancy, but it’s actually one of those dishes that doesn’t need to be complicated. You take good prawns, you grill them properly, you make a decent tomato sauce, and boom. That’s it. The trick is knowing what to do and when to do it.

I’ve seen people overthink this dish to death. They start throwing random herbs in there, they complicate things that don’t need complicating. Then they end up with something that tastes like everything and nothing at the same time. That’s not what we’re doing here. We’re keeping it real.

The magic is in the timing and the heat. Prawns cook fast—stupidly fast actually. And your tomato sauce? It needs time to sit and think about what it’s doing. So that’s the whole dance right there. One thing that moves quickly, one thing that moves slowly, and somehow they meet on a plate and everything works out.

What You’re Actually Going to Need

For the Prawns:

• 800 grams of decent-sized prawns (fresh if you can get them, thawed properly if frozen)
• 5 tablespoons of olive oil that’s actually good
• 5 garlic cloves, chopped up small
• 1.5 teaspoons of red chilli flakes (or less if you don’t do spicy)
• Salt and pepper—the regular kind
• Lemon zest from one lemon
• Juice from 1.5 lemons
• Fresh parsley, chopped (doesn’t have to be fancy)
• Wooden skewers if you want to thread them (soak them first, obviously)

For the Tomato Sauce:

• 3 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 large onion, diced
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 can of crushed tomatoes (400 grams)
• 3 tablespoons of tomato paste
• Just a touch of sugar—like 1/4 teaspoon
• 3/4 cup of broth (vegetable or chicken, whatever you’ve got)
• 1 tablespoon of fresh basil chopped (or 1 teaspoon dried if that’s all you have)
• 1.5 teaspoons of dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon of dried thyme
• Red chilli flakes if you want some heat
• Salt, pepper, fresh basil leaves for the end
• Good olive oil for drizzling at the finish

Making the Sauce (This Actually Takes Time)

Start your sauce about 45 minutes before you want to eat. Put three tablespoons of olive oil in a decent-sized pot over medium heat. Wait until it shimmers a bit—you don’t want it smoking, just warm and ready to go.

Throw your diced onion in there. Now here’s where most people rush. Don’t. Let it sit. Stir it every now and then. After about 5 to 7 minutes, it should look soft and have a little color on the edges. That’s when you know it’s ready for the garlic.

Add your garlic now, and watch it like a hawk. Seriously. Garlic in a hot pan is like that friend who looks calm but can lose it any second. You want maybe 30 to 45 seconds of garlic cooking before it gets brown. The moment it starts smelling really good and looks a tiny bit golden, move to the next step. You’ll know the difference between “perfect” and “burnt” pretty quickly once you’ve done it once or twice.

Stir in your tomato paste here. Let it hang out in the oil for like a minute. This is an actual technique, not me just making stuff up—it makes the tomato paste taste less raw and more complex. Trust it.

Now dump in your crushed tomatoes, broth, oregano, thyme, and that little bit of sugar. The sugar is doing something important: it’s not making it sweet, it’s just taming the acidity of the tomatoes so they don’t taste so sharp. Give everything a good stir so there are no lumps of tomato paste hiding in there.

Turn the heat down low so it’s just gently bubbling. Let it do its thing for 30 minutes. Don’t mess with it too much. Stir it every 5 minutes or so, but mostly let it sit and reduce and think about life. After 30 minutes, taste it. Add more salt if it needs it, crack some pepper in there, maybe a pinch of chilli flakes. This is your chance to make it taste exactly how you want it.

Right before you’re ready to serve, stir in some fresh basil. Keep that heat low so the basil doesn’t lose its life. Fresh herbs go in at the end, always.

Preparing the Prawns (Don’t Overcomplicate)

While the sauce is doing its thing, get your prawns ready. Rinse them under cold water and dry them with paper towels. I’m serious about the drying part. Wet prawns won’t char nicely on the grill. They’ll just steam themselves.

Take a small knife and run it down the back of each prawn where you can see that dark line (that’s the digestive tract, gross but you gotta remove it). Just make a shallow cut and pull it out. This takes maybe a minute for the whole batch. Your prawns will look better and taste better without it.

Mix together 4 tablespoons of olive oil, your minced garlic, chilli flakes, lemon zest, salt, and pepper in a bowl. Toss your clean, dry prawns in this mixture. Make sure they’re all coated. Let them sit for at least 15 minutes while you wait for your grill to heat up.

Grilling: Where Everything Actually Happens

Get your grill or grill pan absolutely hot. If you’re using a grill pan on the stove, let it sit on high heat for a good 3 to 5 minutes until it starts smoking. You want it HOT. This is not the time to be gentle.

Lay your marinated prawns on the grill. They should hit it and make a sound. That sizzle is your signal that something good is happening. Leave them alone for 2 to 3 minutes. I know it’s tempting to poke at them and move them around, but resist that urge. They need time to get those brown spots, that char.

Flip them over carefully with tongs. Cook the other side for another 2 to 3 minutes. They’re done when they turn opaque and look a little bit curled. They should feel firm but not hard—there’s a difference. If they feel like rubber, they’re cooked too much and your day just got worse. But they bounce back pretty quick, so don’t stress too much.

As soon as you take them off the grill, squeeze fresh lemon juice over them. This is the move that makes everything better.

Putting It All Together

Plate your grilled prawns and pour that sauce around and over them. Tear up some fresh basil with your hands (don’t cut it, tearing keeps it fresher looking), sprinkle it on top. Do a final drizzle of good olive oil. Crack some fresh pepper over it.

Serve it hot. Get some crusty bread if you can—you’re going to want to soak up every bit of that sauce. If you’ve got pasta, this sauce works great with that too.

Why This Works

Here’s the thing about this dish. It’s not trying to be something it’s not. It’s grilled prawns with tomato sauce, and that’s enough. The prawns are sweet, the sauce is rich and tangy, the grill adds smoke and char. Everything has a job, and everything does it.

The lesson here isn’t complicated either. Good ingredients, proper technique, right timing. That’s actually all you need to make food that makes people happy. You don’t need to be some fancy chef or follow some crazy recipe. You just need to understand what’s happening and why, and then you can make this dish again and again and it’ll be good every single time. That’s worth knowing.

Grilled prawn scampi with rich tomato sauce seafood delight

Juicy grilled prawn scampi served over a flavorful, rich tomato sauce. A perfect seafood appetizer that’s elegant, zesty, and full of Mediterranean flair.

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 45 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 5 minutes mins

Course Main Course, seafood

Cuisine Italian, Mediterranean

Servings 4 people

Equipment

• Grill or Grill Pan
• Heavy-Bottomed Saucepan
• Mixing Bowls (2)
• Tongs
• Sharp knife
• Cutting board
• Wooden spoon
• Paper towels
• Measuring spoons
• Measuring Cup
• Plates for Serving

Ingredients

  

INGREDIENTS FOR THE PRAWNS:

• 800 grams large prawns fresh or thawed
• 5 tablespoons olive oil
• 5 garlic cloves minced
• 1.5 teaspoons red chilli flakes
• Salt and black pepper to taste
• Zest of 1 lemon
• Juice of 1.5 lemons
• Fresh parsley chopped
• Wooden skewers soaked in water

INGREDIENTS FOR THE TOMATO SAUCE:

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large onion diced
• 4 garlic cloves minced
• 1 can 400g crushed tomatoes
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste
• ¼ teaspoon sugar
• ¾ cup vegetable or chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon fresh basil or 1 tsp dried
• 1.5 teaspoons dried oregano
• ½ teaspoon dried thyme
• Red chilli flakes optional
• Salt and black pepper to taste
• Fresh basil leaves for finishing
• Extra olive oil for drizzling

INSTRUCTIONS

STEP 1: MAKE THE SAUCE (45 minutes before serving)

• Heat 3 tbsp olive oil in pot over medium heat
• Add diced onion, cook 5-7 minutes until soft and golden
• Add 4 minced garlic cloves, cook 30-45 seconds until fragrant
• Stir in tomato paste, cook 1 minute
• Add crushed tomatoes, broth, oregano, thyme, sugar
• Reduce heat to low, simmer 30 minutes, stirring occasionally
• Taste and adjust salt, pepper, chilli flakes
• Stir in fresh basil at the end

STEP 2: PREPARE THE PRAWNS

• Rinse prawns under cold water
• Pat completely dry with paper towels
• Remove digestive tract (dark line on back)
• Mix 4 tbsp olive oil, 5 minced garlic cloves, chilli flakes,
• lemon zest, salt, pepper
• Toss prawns in marinade
• Let sit 15 minutes

STEP 3: GRILL THE PRAWNS

• Heat grill or grill pan to HIGH heat (3-5 minute
• Arrange prawns on hot grill
• Cook 2-3 minutes without moving (first side)
• Flip and cook 2-3 minutes (second side)
• Prawns should be opaque and curled slightly
• Squeeze fresh lemon juice over immediately

STEP 4: PLATE AND SERVE

• Arrange grilled prawns on plate
• Pour rich tomato sauce around and over prawns
• Tear fresh basil leaves, scatter on top
• Drizzle with good olive oil
• Crack black pepper over it
• Serve hot with crusty bread

KEY TIPS:

• Dry prawns properly before grilling
• Watch garlic—don’t let it burn
• Don’t overcook prawns—5-6 minutes total
• Use hot grill for proper char
• Fresh herbs go in at the end
• Good quality olive oil makes a difference

SERVING SUGGESTIONS:

• With crusty bread to soak sauce
• Over pasta (linguine or spaghetti)
• With white rice or jasmine rice
• Over fresh greens as salad
• As appetizer in small bowls
• With fresh lemon juice on the side

STORAGE:

• Sauce: 3-4 days in fridge | 1 month frozen
• Prawns: Best eaten fresh, don’t store cooked

Keyword easy seafood, fresh herbs, garlic shrimp, grill recipe, grilled prawns, medirerranean, prawn recipe, prawns, prawns recipe, scampi, seafood dinner, tomato sauce

Pro Tips That Actually Work

Prawn Quality: Get them from a good fishmonger if you can. Frozen is fine but thaw properly in the fridge. Never use hot water—it makes them mushy. Bigger prawns cook more evenly than small ones.

Sauce Texture: Too thick? Add more broth. Too thin? Let it simmer longer. There’s no exact science here, just adjust to what looks right.

Grill Heat: This matters. You need that sizzle when the prawns hit the grill. If you don’t have a grill, a hot pan works just as well. Maybe better actually because you control it easier.

Lemon Power: Don’t skip the lemon juice after grilling. It brightens everything and cuts through the richness. Fresh lemon makes a real difference.

Garlic Timing: Watch it constantly. Burnt garlic tastes bitter and ruins everything. Better to add it late than burn it. Learn from this one time, trust me.

Tomato Paste Trick: Cook it in the oil for a minute before adding tomatoes. Sounds small but it makes the sauce taste deeper and less raw.

Fresh Herbs Last: Dried herbs during cooking to build flavor. Fresh herbs at the end to keep them bright. That’s the rule.

Oil Matters: Use regular olive oil for cooking (not extra virgin, it burns). Use good olive oil for finishing. This actually changes the taste.

Different Ways to Make It

Spicy Kick Version: Double the chilli flakes. Add fresh green chillis. Some people throw in cayenne too. If you like heat, this is your move.

With More Lemon: Add extra fresh lemon juice to the sauce for brightness and tang. Makes it fresher and lighter.

Seafood Mix: Throw in mussels or clams for the last few minutes. Let them open in the heat. Squid works too if you want something different.

Add Vegetables: Bell peppers or mushrooms diced small. Add them with the onions. They cook down into the sauce without being too obvious.

Light Version: Use half the oil, add extra lemon juice or broth instead. Use 2 tablespoons tomato paste instead of 3. Thinner sauce, less heavy, still flavorful.

Creamy Style: Stir in 1/4 cup cream or mascarpone at the end, off the heat. Don’t boil it or it’ll separate. Makes it richer and smoother.

Cold Salad: Grill the prawns, chill them, serve over greens with thinner sauce as dressing. Actually really good on hot days.

Pasta Dish: Toss hot pasta with the sauce and prawns. Add pasta water if it’s too thick. Becomes a complete meal instead of just appetizer.

How to Serve This Thing

With Bread: Crusty bread is basically required. The sauce is too good to leave on the plate. Toast it lightly if you want. People will eat plain bread just to soak up sauce.

Over Pasta: Linguine or spaghetti. Toss everything together. Add fresh parsley and lemon squeeze at the end. Finish with Parmesan if you like.

As a Starter: Make smaller portions in bowls. Serve before the main course. Looks elegant enough for that.

With Rice: White rice, jasmine rice, even risotto. Sauce soaks into the rice nicely. Different vibe than pasta but it works.

On a Salad: Serve over arugula or mixed greens. Sauce becomes like warm dressing. Add cherry tomatoes on the side. Lighter, fresher feeling.

Fancy Plating: Sauce on the plate first, three or four prawns on top, garnish with basil and olive oil drizzle. Looks restaurant-quality.

Casual Bowl: Dump everything in a bowl, tear basil on it, crusty bread on the side. Eat with your hands. No judgment.

With Fresh Juice: Fresh lime or lemon juice on the side. The acidity complements the richness perfectly.