Garlic Gambas!
One of our much loved neighborhood spots back in NYC is this little french bistro called Le Grainne. Whenever we go, we order the ‘gambas’ to start, without a question. The prawns are served in a hot skillet in a buttery, garlicky sauce. They deliver it to our table with a side of toasted french bread and we almost always ask for more, obviously for dunking in that delicious sauce.
Tonight we sought out to recreate this hors d’oeuvre favorite and I think we nailed it :)
INGREDIENTS
(3T) Butter
(3T) EVOO
(5) Garlic cloves, finely chopped
(1) Shallot, finely chopped
Red Pepper Flakes
Sea Salt
(1lb) Shrimp (deveined, peeled, keep tails)
(3/4C) Low Sodium Chicken Broth
(1) Lemon - Zest of whole lemon (set aside), 1/2 Lemon for juice, remaining half sliced for serving.
Parsley
French Bread (we used half a loaf, opened / sliced)
DIRECTIONS
Turn on the broiler
In a skillet, medium heat, add (2T) butter and EVOO. Once melted, add garlic, shallot, red pepper and salt.
Turn off the stove and brush some of mixture on the bread. (we’ll use all the remaining for the shrimp)
Broil bread - 40 seconds or so on each side. Watch it because it will cook super quick, might not even need that long. Once toasted, take out and set aside. You’ll slice these into smaller pieces for serving / dunking.
Turn the stove back on to medium-high heat for the remaining mixture in the skillet.
Add the shrimp, stir it so it’s all covered with the sauce.
Add chicken broth, lemon juice and zest, stir.
Move down to broiler for about 3 minutes. Again watch them to make sure they don’t overcook. They will be opaque when they are done.
Once cooked, move all the shrimp using a slotted spoon to a bowl. (We’re not done with the sauce so you don’t want to loose any of it).
Back on the stove at medium-high heat, add the remaining 1T of butter and parsley to the mixture. The sauce will bubble a little. Bring it to a simmer and stir it to thicken (1-2) min.
Pour thickened sauce over shrimp, serve with lemon wedges and toast!
Serves: 2
