Avocado Mousse And Prawn Sauce -

Avocado Mousse And Prawn Sauce

This light mousse, served with a creamy, flavoursome sauce makes an elegant first course.

Ingredients

For The Mousse

1 tablespoon powdered gelatine
2 large, very ripe avocados, peeled and roughly chopped
125 ml plain yogurt
125 ml ready made mayonnaise
Juice of 1 lime
Salt if necessary
Tabasco sauce or cayenne pepper to taste
6 large prawns
Oil for greasing

For The Prawn Sauce

250 g prawns, cooked and peeled
2 tablespoons ready made mayonnaise
Juice of 1 lime
Salt and pepper to taste
Chopped fresh parsley to garnish

Details

Serves: 6

Method

Dissolve the gelatine in 3 tablespoons of very hot water in a small pan. (Always add the gelatine powder to the liquid, never the other way around.) Stir vigorously and allow to stand for 1-2 minutes, then, if not completely dissolved, place over very low heat for a few seconds and stir. Do not allow the liquid to boil. Once it is transparent and runny, allow to cool and add lemon juice to dilute further.

Place the avocados, yogurt, mayonnaise, lime juice, salt and tabasco (or cayenne pepper) in a food processor and blend into a fine cream. Alternatively, place in a bowl and blend with a hand-held blender. Add the dissolved gelatine and mix well.

Place a large prawn on the base of each of the 150 ml individual moulds (oval dariole moulds or crème caramel moulds are ideal). Make sure you grease them lightly first. Pour in the avocado mixture and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours, until set.

Meanwhile, make the prawn sauce. You do not need prawns of the best quality for this, as they will be puréed properly thawed frozen prawns will be more than adequate. Place these in a food processor with the mayonnaise and lime juice, adding 1-2 tablespoons of water to dilute. Process until the sauce has the consistency of double cream. If you do not have a food processor, chop the prawns into very small pieces and mix them with the other ingredients using a hand whisk. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Once the mousse has set, run a sharp, heated knife around the moulds and carefully turn out the mousses on to individual plates. To serve, pour some prawn sauce around each mousse and garnish with a sprinkling of chopped fresh parsley.

Related food category:

• Soup and Starter