Shrimp with tomato, lemon, feta and parsley

This gorgeous dish assembles in minutes. Serve with plenty of crusty bread to soak up the creamy pink sauce, or you’ll have dinner guests licking their plates.

Ingredients

• 5-6 cloves fresh garlic, minced
• Olive oil
• 2 pounds grape tomatoes
• 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (2-3 lemons)
• 2 pounds shrimp, peeled and deveined (fresh or frozen)
• 6 ounces crumbled feta
• 1 large bunch flat-leaf Italian parsley
• Salt
• Black pepper, freshly ground

Directions

1. Wash and halve tomatoes. Set aside.
2. Wash and shake dry parsley. Run knife along the bunch to remove leaves from thick stems. Chop leaves coarsely.
3. Place shrimp in a large colander and rinse well under cold water.
4. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large cooking pan or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add garlic and stir with wooden spoon. Add tomatoes and stir, cooking briefly to release juices. Season lightly with salt and generously with freshly-ground black pepper.
5. Add shrimp and lemon juice, stirring to incorporate all the shrimp into the hot liquid. When shrimp is pink (only takes a couple of minutes), add most of the feta and parsley, reserving some for garnish. Stir and remove from heat. Adjust seasonings to taste.
6. Serve on rimmed plates or in shallow bowls, garnished with parsley and feta and plenty of crusty bread alongside.

Serves 8.

Notes

• This would also be wonderful tossed with pasta.
• Add a splash of dry vermouth or white wine with the lemon juice for variation.
• If your guests are game for the activity at the table, whole shrimp with peel on would add more shrimp flavor to the sauce. Just make sure you put out bowls for shells and finger bowls with water for cleanup.
• My mom, who is very picky about her shrimp, feels that among farmed shrimp from Asia, Vietnam is best, Indonesia is ok and Thailand is not good. Check around for good sources. Poor-quality farmed shrimp can have a bland flavor, soft texture or even a chemical taste.
• For two people, use 1/2 pound shrimp, 8 oz tomatoes, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, 1-2 cloves garlic. Feta and parsley to taste.
• For four people, use 1 pound shrimp, 1 pound tomatoes, 1/4 cup lemon juice, 2-3 cloves garlic. 3 oz feta and 1/2 bunch parsley, or to taste.

Here’s a link back to the post and pictures.