CookEat Recipe
Prawn, Potato and Beet Salad with Mayonnaise
Cooked prawns, lettuce, potato, beet and anchovy tossed lightly, mounded and coated with mustard mayonnaise, then finished with alternating potato and beet slices.
Method
Steps
Step 1
Gather the ingredients: 350 g raw peeled and deveined prawns, thawed in the refrigerator if frozen; 400 g potatoes, about 350 g after peeling; 300 g beetroot, about 250 g after peeling; 150 g trimmed romaine or other lettuce, washed and dried; 30 g salt-packed anchovies, rinsed, cleaned and deboned; Commercially pasteurized egg-yolk product equivalent to 2 yolks, measured according to its label; 6–7 tablespoons olive oil for mayonnaise, plus 1 tablespoon for dressing the salad; Juice of 1 lemon; 1 teaspoon prepared mustard; About 2 teaspoons wine vinegar, divided into 1 teaspoon for the salad and 1 teaspoon for the mayonnaise; Salt as needed; Water for boiling vegetables and prawns.
Step 2
Boil the unpeeled beets in water until tender, about 45–75 minutes depending on size. In another pan boil the potatoes until just tender, about 20–30 minutes. Cool promptly in shallow containers, peel when safe to handle, and refrigerate until cold. Cut both into thin slices and reserve some neat slices of each for the final surface.
Step 3
Poach the peeled prawns gently in water until firm, opaque and fully cooked to 74°C, about 3–5 minutes depending on size. Drain and cool promptly in a shallow container in the refrigerator. Cut larger prawns into bite-size pieces. Cut the washed lettuce into finger-width strips. Rinse and debone the salt-packed anchovies and cut each fillet into four or five pieces.
Step 4
Make the mayonnaise with the measured equivalent of two commercially pasteurized yolks suitable for uncooked sauces. Whisk briefly, then add six tablespoons olive oil almost drop by drop at first, whisking continuously. Add the seventh tablespoon, or a little more only if the emulsion absorbs it. Gradually whisk in the strained lemon juice. Dissolve the mustard in one teaspoon vinegar and whisk it in with a little salt. This replaces the white pepper in the basic mayonnaise; work until thick and smooth, allowing about 20 minutes by hand. Keep cold.
Step 5
Toss the cold lettuce, prawns, anchovies and the unreserved potato and beet slices with one tablespoon olive oil, the remaining teaspoon vinegar and salt only as needed. Mound together on a serving platter. Spread the mustard mayonnaise over the whole surface, then alternate the reserved beet and potato slices across it. Serve promptly or refrigerate at 4°C or colder until service, preferably on the day made. Keep the salad cold; lemon and vinegar do not replace safe egg products or refrigeration.
Step 6
For the optional additions, mix in about 1 tablespoon drained capers and the chopped flesh of two or three pitted cured olives before mounding. The source also describes an optional butter flower used only for decoration: if desired, press about 10 g cold butter into a small clean food-safe flower mould, chill, unmould on top immediately before serving, and remove the decoration before portioning. It is not required in the main presentation.
Step 7
For a cooked-fish version, replace the prawns with about 350 g suitable boneless fish fillet from the source’s choices, such as dentice, ombrina, ragno or storione, correctly identified and prepared by the fishmonger. Poach gently in water until fully cooked to at least 70°C, about 6–12 minutes according to thickness, remove every bone, cool promptly and break into pieces. Fully cooked lobster meat can also replace the prawns. For the source’s less-preferred poultry or roast-meat alternatives, use about 300 g safely cooked chicken or roast meat, promptly chilled and still within its refrigerated storage period; keep these separate from the seafood version.
Step 8
A separate closing aside pairs cooked bitter radicchio with sweet beet. For a practical small side, boil about 250 g washed radicchio until tender, about 8–12 minutes, drain and combine with about 200 g cooked sliced beet. Dress, if desired, with one tablespoon olive oil and a teaspoon vinegar and serve warm or promptly chilled. These amounts and dressing are practical additions to the source’s brief pairing, not ingredients added to the main mayonnaise salad.
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