There are three tricks to preparing garlic shrimp. First, you must use enough garlic. The dish is a garlic dish as much as a shrimp dish. Second, you must use a high quality extra virgin olive oil, and don’t be shy with it. The third tip is to cook at a low heat and be sure and not overcook the shrimp.
This is a simple dish and very representative of Andalusia and Spanish cuisine. You will find it in many restaurants. Normally, this dish is chosen as an appetizer or tapa, and is enjoyed along with a glass of beer or wine.
The best part of this dish is the caramelized garlic and shrimp juices that settle in the bottom of the pan and less about the shrimp. Be sure and have some fresh bread available to soak up the sauce.
Here is a recipe created by our own Manuela Augusto Cobos. Manuela has a lovely kitchen filled with fresh vegetables, herbs and spices. She has been kind enough to share with us a simple recipe.
Spanish Garlic Shrimp
Time:15 minutes
Effort: easy
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients:
1/2 cup olive oil
half of one giant head of elephant garlic, roughly chopped
1 teaspoon Spanish paprika
a chili pepper whole
1 pound of shrimp, peeled and de-veined
salt to taste
1 tablespoon minced parsley to garnish
Directions:
– Put your oven rack in the middle position and heat to 400 degrees F (200 C).
– Add the oil and garlic to a cast iron pan and heat over medium high heat. Fry the garlic until it starts to turn brown around the edges. Add the Spanish paprika and the chili pepper, and stir to combine.
– Add the shrimp in a single layer, and then sprinkle with salt. Put the pan in the oven and cook until the shrimp is pink and opaque all the way through (about 2-3 minutes).
– Remove the pan from the oven and sprinkle with the parsley. Toss the shrimp to coat with the oil and serve with bread.
The quality of the extra virgin olive oil is what will make or break this dish. The flavor is principally the cooked garlic and olive oil. The “sauce” is primarily olive oil. So if you use a nice variety of extra virgin, you can expect outstanding flavor.
Here at GringoCool, we offer two varieties of top quality, Spanish extra virgin olive oil. Either would be wonderful for this dish. Our olive oils are carefully selected for body, color, flavor and quality. Our extra virgins are bottled especially for this type of cooking – where the flavor of the olive oil is an attribute. Our olive oils are for finishing food, or slow cooking.
We are kicking off the 2017 holiday season with a special offer of 25% off of either our Spanish Hojiblanca, or our Spanish, 100% organic Picual extra virgin olive oils. You will not find that price anywhere except at our online store (gringocool.com). This is a limited time offer.
Thanks for reading and let us know about your experience cooking Spanish garlic shrimp!
