At La Casa del Abuelo, an ageless, popular place in Madrid, the Gambas al Ajillo, garlic shrimp, come to your table sizzling hot, served in tapas size terra cotta dishes. After the shrimp disappear you sop up the delicious garlicky remains with thick slices of crusty bread and then order another round! I think I ate at least 4 portions.
The following recipe is my Edisto Island version of this famous Spanish dish. Its simple to make, especially here on Edisto where shrimp are as fresh and plentiful as the mosquitos.
Soaking the peeled shrimp in salt water, then tossing them with a little baking soda right before cooking will improve their tastiness and keep them tender. But what really gives this dish character is sautéing the shells in the olive oil before cooking the shrimp – this infuses the oil with a deep shrimpy flavour.
Ingredients
- Serves 4 as a main dish
- 2 lbs (1 kg) fresh shrimp, shells on
- 1 tablespoon sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced (or more if garlic is your thing)
- Hot pepper flakes (to taste)
- a handful of flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped
- Splash of sherry or pastis
Instructions
- Peel shrimp, leaving the last segment of the shell and the tail on, reserve the shells. Devein as necessary. (my feeling is - if you can see it, remove it, otherwise, don’t bother). Place the shrimp in a bowl of ice cold water to cover and add a tablespoon of sea salt.
- Pat the shells dry. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over low heat. Add the shells and sauté, keeping the heat low, for about 10 to 15 minutes until they are crisp and pink. Strain the oil and return it to the pan.
- Drain the shrimp, pat dry with paper towel. Place in a bowl and sprinkle with the baking soda, toss to evenly coat.
- Return the infused oil to heat over a low flame. Add the garlic slices and hot pepper flakes; gently sauté 5 to 7 minutes, keeping the heat low so that the garlic softens but does not brown. Add the shrimp and turn up the heat just slightly. Cook, tossing and stirring until just pink, 3 to 5 minutes. When the shrimp are ready, toss in the chopped parsley and a splash of sherry or pastis. Serve immediately with lots of crusty bread for soaking up the garlicky sauce.
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https://www.charlottepuckette.com/recipes/first-courses/edisto-garlic-shrimp/
