Jamie Oliver’s prawn skewers with ajoblanco sauce threads king prawns, sliced chorizo, lemon rounds and padrón peppers onto metal skewers, grills them over charcoal, then sits them on a bed of ajoblanco, a blitzed sauce of toasted almonds, garlic, sherry vinegar and cold water, finished with a pounded parsley oil and a dust of smoked paprika. It serves four, takes 25 minutes, and comes in at 583 kcal.
The recipe is from Jamie Oliver’s BBQ book, and Oliver explains he’s taken the key ingredients of ajoblanco, a traditional cold Spanish almond soup from Andalusia, and turned them into a sauce rather than a broth. That’s the information gain: ajoblanco is normally served as a chilled white gazpacho, but here the same ingredients (blanched almonds, garlic, sherry vinegar, water) become a thick, creamy bed for hot grilled prawns.
The parsley oil is the bright green finishing drizzle that pulls everything together. You pound parsley (stalks and all) with salt into a fine paste, grate in lemon zest and muddle in olive oil. It goes over the skewers right as they land on the ajoblanco, so the hot prawns and chorizo sit on cold, creamy white sauce with vivid green oil and a red dust of paprika. Three colours, three temperatures, one plate.
Jamie Oliver Prawn Skewers & Ajoblanco Sauce
Course: Sides, AppetizersCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Easy4
servings10
minutes15
minutes583
kcal25
minutesJamie Oliver’s grilled prawn and chorizo skewers from his BBQ book, served on a cold blitzed almond ajoblanco sauce with parsley oil and paprika. A Spanish-inspired barbecue plate built on a traditional Andalusian soup reimagined as a sauce. Serves four.
Ingredients
16 large raw shell-on king prawns, from sustainable sources
120g chorizo
2 lemons
16 padrón peppers
200g blanched almonds
1 small clove of garlic
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
½ a bunch of flat-leaf parsley (15g)
extra virgin olive oil
1 pinch of smoked paprika, to serve
Directions
- Prep the skewers:Peel the prawns, leaving tails on, and devein by running a small knife down the back. Slice the chorizo into rounds just under 1cm thick. Halve and thinly slice 1 lemon. Prick the padrón peppers. Thread everything onto 4 long metal skewers, alternating and not packing too tightly.
- Make the ajoblanco:Toast the almonds in a frying pan over medium-high heat until lightly golden (or toast in a metal sieve over the barbecue). Tip into a small blender, peel and add the garlic, the sherry vinegar and 250ml of cold water. Season and blitz to a thick, smooth paste, loosening with splashes of water if needed. Spread on a serving platter.
- Make the parsley oil:Pound the parsley, stalks and all, in a pestle and mortar with a pinch of salt to a fine paste. Grate in the zest of the remaining lemon and muddle in 4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil.
- Grill:Light the barbecue with a 50/50 setup. Cook the skewers on the hot zone for 3-4 minutes, turning regularly, until charred and cooked through, moving to the medium or cool zone if colouring too fast.
- Serve:Transfer the skewers to the ajoblanco platter, drizzle with parsley oil, squeeze over the remaining lemon juice and finish with a dusting of smoked paprika.
FAQs
What is ajoblanco?
It’s a cold white soup from Andalusia in southern Spain, predating the more famous red gazpacho by centuries. Traditional ajoblanco is made from blanched almonds, stale bread, garlic, sherry vinegar, olive oil and cold water, blitzed smooth and served chilled, often with grapes or melon.
Oliver strips it to its essentials (almonds, garlic, vinegar, water) and thickens it into a paste rather than a soup, so it works as a sauce bed for the hot skewers. The cold, creamy, nutty sauce against the charred, smoky prawns and chorizo is the whole contrast. If you’ve never had ajoblanco in any form, this is a good introduction.
Why put chorizo on the same skewer as the prawns?
The chorizo renders its spiced, paprika-stained fat as it grills, and that fat bastes the prawns and peppers sitting next to it on the skewer. You get smoky, slightly spicy prawns without having to marinate them separately. The lemon slices char and caramelise between the proteins, adding a bitter-sweet citrus note.
Slice the chorizo just under 1cm thick so it holds its shape on the skewer and crisps at the edges rather than falling apart. Don’t pack the skewer too tightly, since everything needs space to get direct heat and char properly.
Can I make the ajoblanco ahead?
Yes, and it’s actually better chilled. Make it a few hours or even a day ahead, cover and refrigerate, and the almond flavour deepens as it sits. It thickens in the fridge, so loosen it with a splash of cold water before spreading it on the platter. Bring it out of the fridge 15 minutes before serving so it’s cool, not ice-cold.
The parsley oil can also be made ahead and kept in the fridge, where it stays vivid green for a day. The skewers are the only last-minute element, and they take 3-4 minutes on the grill, so the prep is genuinely front-loadable for a gathering.
What are padrón peppers?
Small Spanish green peppers, mild and sweet, traditionally fried in olive oil with salt. They’re famous because most are gentle but the occasional one is fiery, which the Spanish call “Russian roulette” peppers. Grilling blisters and softens them the way frying does, and their sweetness pairs well with the salty chorizo and prawns.
If you can’t find padróns, Turkish sivri peppers or shishito peppers are the closest substitutes and cook the same way. In a pinch, sliced bell pepper works but without the characteristic gambling-with-heat element.
Can I make this without a barbecue?
Yes. Cook the skewers under a hot kitchen grill or in a smoking griddle pan for 3-4 minutes, turning regularly. The chorizo crisps and the prawns char well under a grill. The ajoblanco and parsley oil are made entirely off the barbecue anyway, so only the skewers need adapting.
You lose the charcoal smokiness, but the chorizo brings its own smoky, paprika depth and the smoked paprika dusting at the end keeps the smoky note present. For the other barbecue dish in the same book on the site, his romesco cauliflower also works well adapted to the oven, and the two together make a Spanish-themed spread regardless of your heat source.
What should I serve alongside?
Oliver presents this as a standalone plate, and the ajoblanco, parsley oil and skewers are a complete dish. Crusty bread is the natural addition for mopping the sauce, and a simple green salad with sherry vinegar dressing keeps the Spanish theme.
For a full barbecue spread from the same book, start with his halloumi and strawberry skewers as a vegetarian opener, then serve these prawn skewers as the main, with the romesco cauliflower as a vegetable side. Three dishes, all from the BBQ book, all Spanish-leaning, all grilled.
