It’s FRIDAYY! The day I look forward to everyday since Monday. literally countdown to it. This feeling never gets old haha. I love how I feel on Fridays because it is SO CLOSE to the weekend. I am a total sucker for lazing around the house on my days off so I feel the absolute need to do something exciting on Friday nights so I feel like I still have 2 more days to go. My weekends are filled with super fun things like discovering new places to eat, cooking something amazing myself, going to the spa, drinking lo-ooots of ginger chai, sleeping in and shopping (for something or anything). I am particularly excited about this weekend because I get to cook with something I received on my birthday as a gift – a beautifully packed hamper of Mediterranean spices.
While when you think of the Mediterranean, it screams summer, I look at it as a cuisine that offers exciting flavours which are great anytime of the year. Since we have rainy weather here in Gurgaon these days, I keep craving for slightly spicy but deep flavours which are kind of comforting at the same time.
So this time I am super happy to be bringing to you – Greek Baked Shrimp. Beautiful, fresh shrimp, laced in a tomato sauce with lots of garlic, green peppers, feta and black olives. YUM.
Greek Baked Shrimp
Serves 2 | Prep time : 10 min | Cooking time : 25 min
Ingredients:
Large shrimp – 10, fresh, cleaned and deveined (you can choose to keep the tails on)
Garlic – 7-8 cloves, finely chopped
Chili flakes – 1-2 tsps
Onions – 1, medium sized, finely chopped
Tomatoes – 2, medium sized, chopped
Green Peppers – 1, small, chopped
Feta – 1/2 cup
Black Olives – a handful
Mint – a handful, chopped
Olive Oil – 3 tbsps
Honey – 2 tbsps
Salt and Pepper – to taste
Directions:
In a skillet (I used a cast iron pan because you can then place the same pan in the over) get some olive oil and put in the chopped garlic. Once it is fragrant, add the chili flakes, chopped onion and cook till slightly golden.
Next, add the peppers and tomatoes, cook till it everything comes together like a sauce. Add a splash of water if you feel you need to adjust the consistency. Ensure it isn’t too watery because this isn’t meant to be like a stew, the sauce needs to be slightly thick, just enough to lace the shrimp and still be juicy once all this has been baked in the oven.
Now add the shrimp and cook for about 2 minutes. Add a teensy bit of salt, because a)the shrimp is naturally a little salty and b)you will add feta next which is very very salty.
Drizzle some honey around and mix well. This honey perfectly balances the hit you get from the paprika and chili flakes and adds wonderful depth to this Greek Baked Shrimp.
Mix well and then place little blobs of feta around the pan. Don’t mix, we will want this to kind brown when in the oven. Top with black olives and pop into a preheated oven at 180 degrees C for about 10 minutes.
Remove from the oven and serve in the same dish. Garnish this with torn or chopped mint leaves. I served this Greek Baked Shrimp with garlic quinoa (because, ahem, healthy) but this is great even with some couscous or fresh bread like a sourdough or a baguette.
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