I enjoy prawns with plenty of flavours, so here I have mixed them with spices of paprika, cinnamon, saffron and cumin and then added sweetness from dried apricots, and warmth from sausages. They're simply delicious, served on steaming hot couscous flavoured with grated orange rind.

Ingredients

• 1 red onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 2 tblsp oil
• 4 fat juicy cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 tsp each ground pepper, salt, cinnamon, cumin, coriander and paprika
• ¼-½ tsp saffron threads
• 4-6 thin spicy sausages
• 200 grams or 1½ cups finely sliced dried apricots
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 400 gram can Mediterranean tomatoes
• 1 red pepper, finely sliced
• 500 grams green, shelled prawns
• about ¼ cup chopped coriander
• about 2 tblsp chopped fresh mint
• 1 preserved lemon, finely sliced (see recipe in Ecook Recipe File Miscellaneous)

Method

1. Cook the onion in the oil for about 5 minutes until the onion has softened and coloured slightly. Add the garlic, pepper, salt, cinnamon, cumin, coriander, paprika, saffron and sausages and cook a further minute.
2. Stir in the apricots and half the stock, cover and simmer for 15 minutes until the sausages are cooked and the liquid mostly evaporated.
3. Remove the sausages and keep warm. Add the Mediterranean tomatoes to the pan with the remaining one cup of stock and bring to the boil.
4. Slice the sausages into thin rounds and add to the pan with the well-washed and drained green prawns.
5. Cover and simmer for at least 10 minutes until the prawns are cooked. Season if necessary with salt and pepper.
6. Arrange the prawns on top of couscous on a platter and top with the coriander, mint and finely sliced preserved lemon.