Baked Greek Shrimp

I saw a recipe for Baked Greek Shrimp on the NY Times Cooking site by David Tanis and he was my inspo for this recipe. I made a few changes to the original to make it my own and I think it was wonderful . So thanks to David Tanis and the NY Times Cooking site which I absolutely love.

This is Greek Shrimp and not Italian mostly by the fact that obviously the Greeks don’t mind adding cheese to their seafood and I have to say it all tastes rather delicious.

I made it for the two of us this past xmas eve and this is what I did.

Ingredients:

2 large shallots, minced ( use a mini processor if you have one)

4 garlic cloves, minced

Kosher Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper

1 28 oz. can of diced tomatoes– drained

a nice size pinch of crushed red pepper flakes

1 1/2 lb. of large shrimp, peeled and deveined and tails off

app. 4 oz. of crumbled feta cheese or block that you crumble

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

Directions:

I use my mini food processor and I mince the shallots and the garlic together. If you don’t have this little machine I suggest purchasing it it’s a life saver in terms of chopping and mincing garlic and onions. Put 4 Tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat . Add shallots and garlic, season with a little salt and pepper and cook till softened, about 5 to 8 minutes. Stir around to keep mixture from browning. Add drained can of diced tomatoes to the pan, season with salt and pepper to taste and add a large pinch of crushed red pepper. Cook stirring, until mixture is juicy and tomatoes have softened, about 10 minutes.

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

Put shrimp in a mixing bowl and add 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil, season shrimp with salt and pepper and stir to coat. I used about 1/4 teaspoon of kosher salt and a little black pepper.

Transfer tomato mixture to a shallow baking dish ( not metal) glass , ceramic or earthenware. Add shrimp in one layer over tomato mixture in one layer. Crumble cheese over surface and sprinkle with oregano.

I baked for about 15 minutes , you’ll want tomatoes to be bubbling and shrimp to turn pink and curl a bit and cheese has browned slightly. Put under broiler for the last 3-4 minutes till cheese browns up a bit. Remove from oven and let sit for a minute or so.

I cooked up some orzo and served shrimp over the orzo and it was perfect. Served with a nice light green salad as well.