Gaspacho de langoustines a la creme de courgette

No doubt three-star chef Michel Lorain of La Côte Saint Jacques consultant chef at The Oak Room restaurant Le Meridien London would pay homage to Maria José's sentiments about traditional gazpacho but he has created his own version and is rightly proud of it. This dish reputedly earned him his third Michelin star. He explains that the aim of the dish is to serve the gazpacho chilled the prawns warm with the whole dish being held together by the smooth cream of courgette.

Ingredients

Gazpacho with warm prawns and quenelles of courgette serves 4)

500g tomatoes
20 large prawns(Dublin Bay)
300g courgettes
40g whipped cream
2g leaf of gelatine
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

For the gazpacho:
Half a red pepper
Quarter of cucumber
70g peeled onions
1 egg
Half garlic clove
75ml olive oil
80g sliced white bread
Wine vinegar
Salt and pepper

De-shell prawn tails without breaking the flesh. Cut along the back to remove the intestines.

To make the gazpacho: blend red pepper cucumber garlic and onion in a food processor. Pour the mixture on to the sliced white bread and let it soak for 10 minutes. Mix for a smoother consistency.

To bind the gazpacho mixture add the egg which has been beaten in to the olive oil. Season with salt pepper and wine vinegar. Pass through a colander and refrigerate.

For the quenelles of courgette: peel skin of courgettes in lengths which should not be more than half a centimetre thick then chop them finely.

Cook the courgette hearts in boiling salted water for eight minutes then plunge into cold water so they retain their colour. Drain and pass through a very fine colander.

Dry out the resultant purée for two to three minutes over a low heat stirring regularly so the mixture doesn't stick.

Fold in the sheet of softened gelatine which has been soaked in water.

As soon as the mixture has cooled stir in the whipped cream and season with salt and pepper.

To finish fry prawns on their backs in a small amount of olive oil for about two minutes. Remove from heat and keep warm.

To Serve

Pour approximately 1cm of chilled gazpacho into shallow soup bowls. Using two teaspoons shapefive courgette quenelles per plate arranging in a star pattern. Arrange prawns in the spaces between.