Shrimp Saganaki
Ingredients
- Shrimp Saganaki
- Shrimp
- 1 lbs. coon stripe shrimp or spot prawns, peeled and rinsed
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
- 1 Tbsp Ouzo, Aquavit or Absinthe (optional)
- Sauce
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 pints cherry tomatoes, washed, or 1 28-oz can plum tomatoes
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- 4 to 6 oz feta cheese (the kind that comes in a block)
- 2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
- A splash of Ouzo, Aquavit, or Absinthe (optional)
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 F. In a medium bowl, toss shrimp or spot prawns in olive oil, garlic, parsley and Ouzo or Aquavit, if using. Set aside while you prepare the sauce.
- Heat oil in a 10-inch cast-iron frying pan over medium heat. Add onion and cook until soft and translucent, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook for another 2 minutes.
- Add tomatoes to the pan. If you’re using cherry tomatoes, cook until the tomatoes pop and release their juices. Cook another 2 minutes or so, until some of the juice has evaporated. If the pan starts to get dry before the tomatoes pop, add a splash of Ouzo, Aquavit or Absinthe.
- If you’re using canned tomatoes, add them, juice and all, to the pan. Break up the tomatoes with a fork and cook until most but not all of the juice has evaporated. (Add the optional liquor, by all means!)
- Lay marinated shrimp overtop of the sauce, pouring the marinade in and around them.
- Cut feta into 6 to 8 slices, 1/4-inch thick, and lay overtop of the shrimp so that most of the pan is covered.
- Place frying pan in the oven. Bake for 8 to 12 minutes, until the sauce is bubbling and the cheese is melting at the edges and beginning to brown.
- Remove from the oven. If you have a good trivet to protect the table, bring the frying pan to the table with an oven mitt on the handle and lots of reminders that the pan is HOT. It’s a nice way to serve, with some crusty bread and a green salad on the side.
Who remembers the Greek restaurants of the ’80s, when Saganaki Opa! was on the menu? The waiter would arrive tableside with a frying pan boasting a sizzling slice of just-melting cheese, douse it with brandy, set it on fire, yell “Opa!” and plunk the flaming pan down on the table with a flourish. A fabulous bit of showbiz. Does this happen anymore? I hope it does somewhere!
Last year, at this time, I was in Athens, noticing new and old menu items. Saganaki was present, without the flames (apparently that’s a North American tradition), and so was something that was new to me: shrimp saganaki. Of course we ordered it. When the dish of caramelized tomatoes, melting feta and perfectly cooked shrimp arrived, I said to myself, Ah. In the ’80s we used to call this “Shrimp Cooked in the Oven with Tomatoes and Feta.” Times change and so do names, but tomatoes, feta and shrimp, by any other name, tastes as sweet.
B.C. spot prawns are in season, so if you’re in the neighbourhood, try to snag some and bring them home frozen. Here in the Yukon, supermarkets have their versions of sustainably harvested shrimp; and in Whitehorse, Haines Packing Company typically sells Alaskan coon stripe shrimp, year-round. They doubt they’ll be selling spot prawns at the Whitehorse outlet this season, but, if you’re heading to Haines, you might be lucky. If you are lucky, give this dish a try. Give it a try with whatever shrimp you can find.
Shrimp Saganaki is most definitely a treat—a summery, family-style, informal-gathering kind of treat, with everybody sitting around the table dipping bread into the communal pan.
