spicy garlic shrimp & feta skillet

It’s 7AM and I’m watching last Thursday’s Glee on demand. Uhhh…

I don’t really have anything interesting to report. I have three weeks left in the semester, and then a week off before I start again for the summer. Meanwhile, everyone else my age who went to grad school will be graduating, and I’ll be celebrating my halfway mark. Woo hoo!

Yesterday the GS and I went to Target, where I bought Clorox wipes and shaving cream on sale. Impulse buys for sure. Then we went to Wegmans so that I could find inspiration to make something delicious for what are apparently now once-weekly blog posts. As we were browsing the seafood section, I remembered that Kelly’s boyfriend, Aaron (now also known as Double A, Boy Aaron, and Aaron T to avoid confusion) gave me a 5 lb box of whole shrimp for my birthday last year that have been taking up space in our freezer as I decide what to do with them.

When the GS revealed that he has extensive experience cleaning seafood, I figured we would make that our Sunday project.

Spicy Garlic Shrimp & Feta Skillet

adapted from Inspired Edibles

1 lb shrimp, any size

about 2 lbs roma tomatoes

1 sweet onion

4 cloves garlic

1-2 tsp chili garlic sauce

1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley

1/4-3/4 cups crumbled feta cheese

1 loaf of crusty bread, for serving (optional)

You absolutely can, and should, buy pre-peeled and de-veined shrimp. But, for the fun of it, here’s a how-to in case you want to get your hands dirty.

This is a whole shrimp. It resembles a frighteningly large insect.

Pull the head off. Warning- there will be blood (in case you’re like me and didn’t expect shrimp to have blood). Peel off the outer shell and the feet along the bottom- I left the tails on because they look prettier that way.

With a paring knife, make a shallow slice along the back and pull out the vein. If you leave the veins in it will make the shrimp taste bitter. It slides out pretty easily, but make sure you get the whole thing. Rinse thoroughly with cool water.

And that’s it! We only used about a pound in this recipe, but now I have a nice bag of massive shrimp in my freezer for the next time I have an inkling for seafood.

Chop up the onion, tomatoes, and garlic. Saute the onion in 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil until slightly translucent. Add the tomatoes, garlic, about 2 tablespoons of parsley, and chili garlic sauce (you can find this in the Asian food section of your grocery store- it costs about $2). It’s spicy- I only put in a teaspoon because somebody is a little sensitive to spice, but I think two teaspoons would have been fine.

Allow everything to cook together for 5 minutes or so until the tomatoes start to cook down, then add your shrimp. Let them cook for about 2 minutes, then top with feta and place the entire skillet under the broiler for another 3 minutes or so.

This dish is so fast! Top with additional feta and parsley and serve with bread.